Initially completed in 2003 by CLB Architects, the Paintbrush Residence has received periodic iterations over the years by the studio. Over the past two decades, the treehouse-like home has evolved according to the needs of its owners while staying true to its core vision of being a dwelling immersed in nature.
By upending the program of a traditional home — the living area positioned on the upper level and the bedrooms on the ground floor — Paintbrush Residence occupants get to enjoy the routines of daily life amidst elevated views of the Aspen canopy, and retire for the night to the quiet sanctuary of the private wing nestled close to the hillside. “You begin low, climbing the stairs and then you’re on this kind of piano nobile — this thing lifted into the sky, into the canopy of trees,” describes studio partner and architect Eric Logan. “So it really has a kind of cool treehouse sort of feel about it. It just totally changes the way you feel when you’re on the site.”
Twenty years later, its new owners sought the studio for an update on the existing design language. Crafted from slow-weathering materials such as oxidised steel and cedar, the home has gracefully withstood the test of time, centering the project’s focus around the interior’s hard-wearing spaces and surfaces. A new, elevated palette of materials was brought in, from white oak cabinetry modules to a reinvented kitchen island. Warm, tactile and natural finishes were chosen to echo the structural gestures of the original, all of which embrace the honesty of the building materials and bring a harmonious look to the entire home, inside and out. Follow CLB Architects on Instagram.
Photography © Matthew Millman