English Charm and Old World Detail Define a Family Haven

A timeless Colorado home in a pastoral setting is imbued with vintage charm.

1 hour ago

Laura Beausire,

Vintage furnishings and fixtures add depth and character to the kitchen-adjacent dining nook, where a built-in banquette provides cozy seating. “That’s where everybody wants to hang out,” architect Lauren Crocco says. | Photo: Haris Kenjar

Just because a home is new doesn’t mean it must look that way. In the case of this southwest Colorado house built for a family with three young children, the guiding principles were timelessness and lived-in imperfection. The rural setting, surrounded by pastures and grazing cattle, with views of the San Juan Mountains, suited the homeowners’ intention to have horses.

When they teamed up with Seattle-based architect Lauren Crocco, founder of Lauren Crocco Architecture & Design, and interior designer Heidi Caillier, of Heidi Caillier Design in San Francisco, the homeowners made it clear that they didn’t want a modern home. “They wanted it to feel that it could have been built at any time,” Crocco says. “We wanted to go a different way with it
and feel a little bit more English, and Old World.”

With a shingled exterior, swooping gable and copper-roofed, flared eaves, the home has a timeless quality. “It was about choosing things that would weather over time and add texture to the house,” says Crocco. | Photo: Haris Kenjar

Together they agreed on a two-story home with a swooping front gable. The exterior is clad in painted shingles, with an Enviroslate roof and flared eaves topped with copper roofing that will develop a patina over time. “We wanted to use materials that would work well in the environment but also have that more traditional form,” says Crocco.

The homeowner calls the home’s style “English Cottage-y,” with a classic, vintage aesthetic. “It feels very cozy and homey,” he adds. “It’s not just white walls and big windows.” The design is a good fit for the family. “It’s a lot more compartmentalized, which works for us,” the homeowner says. “There’s pluses and minuses there, but it gives every room its own character.”

The cozy-elegant living room combines cream-colored walls, reclaimed wood beams and floral-upholstered seating around a live-edge wood slab coffee table. A horse painting hangs above the fireplace, complementing the home’s rural surroundings. | Photo: Haris Kenjar

Crocco and Caillier have created spaces with warmth, texture and surprises around every corner. Each room has a distinct personality, showcasing Caillier’s daring color choices. “I always like to layer colors that clash a little bit,” Caillier says. Her deft pattern-mixing encompasses >> florals, graphic lines and varying textures and materials with elegance and ease.

“The interiors were meant to blend harmoniously into the landscape, softly accommodating and reflecting the light, the rolling hills and the mountain views from the windows,” says Caillier. She and Crocco introduced varying ceiling heights, reclaimed wood flooring and beams, wallpaper, antiques and other vintage elements, playing with tradition while still creating a contemporary mood that’s a perfect match for the home’s youthful energy. “This home was about creating a haven for a young family that embraces the splendid countryside around it, but doing it in a comfortable, elevated way,” Caillier says.

The kitchen features a large island and aubergine-hued cabinetry, with Delft tiles and a framed landscape gracing the cooking area. “I often hang art above a range to make a utilitarian space feel more warm and decorative,” says designer Caillier. | Photo: Haris Kenjar

The resulting spaces are cozy and charming, designed with clever built-ins, carve-outs and hideaways. The primary bedroom even has an adjacent greenhouse space for the wife, who loves collecting plants.

“I think it’s really about imagining where you want to curl up and read a book, or sit with your kids,” says Crocco, “creating these little nooks and spaces to do that, and to be comfortable, and to have softness around you.” With meticulous attention devoted to every detail, “it gives you good feelings of something classic, versus just something new,” the homeowner says. And that’s the timeless heart of a family home designed to last.

In the warm and cozy primary bathroom, a freestanding tub lends vintage charm to a nook with views toward the horse pasture. The vanity was created from a repurposed antique find. | Photo: Haris Kenjar