Several miles out lightly-traveled Cabin Creek Road, in Meeker Park, Colorado, is the secluded home of Sam and Theresa Kiteley. Moving from Santa Clara, California, the couple chose T.W. Beck Architects to design a vacation/retirement home for them near Colorado’s beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park.
At the outset T.W. Beck Architects met with challenges related to the secluded site the Kiteley’s chose. A previous owner of the property had agreed with Boulder County to limit the square footage of the home. In addition, Boulder County required that a meadow behind the home remain free of structures. Additionally, the owners wanted to save trees that were located on the lot between the meadow and the road. Precise engineering by Beck located the home so that these natural amenities remain undisturbed. Erection of a temporary fence ensured that construction equipment did not cross into the meadow. Equally important, the fence prevented erosion from the building site. To address the square footage issue, T.W. Beck Architects designed some areas, such as the mechanical room, to be built below grade so that those areas did not figure into the total square footage of the home.
The living space totals 2088 square feet – 1621 on the main level and 407 on the lower. The two-car, heated, 599 square foot garage and part of the basement is the mechanical room. It houses a 500-gallon solar storage tank and hot water gas boiler for the home’s zoned, in-floor heat with side-arm exchange for solar domestic hot water. The lower level living space includes a bedroom, full bath and family room with tile floor. A patio, accessible from the family room, overlooks the serene meadow and a large grove of beautiful aspen trees.
The home’s main level features a spectacular, spacious great room. The kitchen is open to the living and dining areas but is defined by a counter and bar. A huge log truss spans the high, great room ceiling and is complemented by additional wood trusses and wood floors in the living and dining areas. Kitchen and foyer floors are tile. A Vermont Castings see-through gas fireplace in the great room also opens to the master suite which includes a walk-in closet and bathroom with double vanity.
Across the back of the house, a deck is accessible from both the great room and the master bedroom through eight-foot glass doors – which provide maximum glass, along with plentiful windows to bring in the dazzling views of Mount Meeker as well as passive solar heat and natural daylight. The dining area, which is open to the kitchen and living room also opens to another deck. A second bedroom, full bath and large laundry room complete the main level.
The exterior of the home is custom-milled, log, cedar siding with cedar shingles in the gables. Moss rock accents the lower portion of the structure and is used as a base for log support on the front porch.