Frazier Homestead
On a windswept bluff high in the Rockies near Telluride in Southwestern Colorado is a remote and rustic place. The air is thin and cool; the sun is bright and less hindered by the atmosphere than in most civilized human habitations. The site is spectacular in a timeless and ancient way—providing the inspiration for the architect to build on the storied past. The history of the region and a stone outcrop on the site offer clues to the solution Charles Cunniffe Architects realized for a unique and sophisticated client.
The rock found on the site had fractured off of the matrix of the sandstone through endless freeze-thaw cycles, gravity, and the elements. The size of the rubble reminded the architects of the scale and coloration of the ancient masonry structures of the once nearby Anasazi people. Indeed, the exposed cliff-like setting suggested the need for the strength and durability of the ancient building forms found in Anasazi structures.
CCA chose to develop this romantic notion suggested by the site and build the new structure on a "found" ruin—an implied mythology grew out of it.Any new structure would have to perform strenuously to provide the needed shelter in both physical and emotional sense—neccessitating the alchemy of responsibility, art, and understanding.
It is no wonder that the owner who chose to build this 11,800 sq ft residence in such a remote and inhospitable place would possess great bravery and confidence in the challenge of inhabiting this uncompromising location.
The "prehistoric" rusticated plinth provides a transition from the primeval stone bed to the modern silhouettes emerging from the earth. The copper cladding of the new forms connects to the elemental nature of the site and suggests technological development within the very location and palette of the ancient stone. Copper is indigenous to the region and provided legendary wealth to its early entrepreneurs. The transition in the patina of the copper over time allowed a dynamic and graceful aging process. The newer forms are crystalline and crisp, bravely cutting into the incomparable blue of the high country sky like the newest shards to break away from the rock.
