Luxury Home Design: What Every Homeowner Should Consider

3 elements that make your mountain home design a breeze

Whether you are buying, building, or remodeling your home to fit your needs, here are a handful of design items to consider before diving in. Keeping these key elements in the forefront of your design will help the process go more smoothly and result in the home of your dreams.

What are your favorite views?

Spectacular views of the mountains are all around us and easy to enjoy from the outdoors during the summer, but summer in Colorado, especially in the Mountains, is short and sweet.  Design your home to incorporate the mountain views from inside your home, focusing on the primary areas you use most during the day, like the living room. This will help you enjoy your views year-round. 

Consider adding large lift-and-slide or bi-fold doors between indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces to make both spaces feel larger. This will enhance your experience and views from the indoors during the colder months.

Where do you spend most of your time?

Designing primary spaces to enhance key views and draw in natural light will make these areas more appealing to you and your guests. This will entice you into spending more time in your favorite spaces enjoying your mountain views.

Locating secondary spaces and bedrooms in areas without the most enticing views will provide privacy and comfort for your family and guests. You can draw the blackout shades and not feel as if you’re wasting the breathtaking views.

Are you an early riser? Consider a design that include the kitchen and master bedroom on the East side of the house, allowing early morning sunlight to stream-in and fill these spaces first.

How does the sun move across the home?

As we all know, the sun moves from East to West but don’t forget that this movement changes the suns intensity throughout the day.  Early morning light is less intense than the sun’s rays in the late afternoon; this change in intensity can affect the comfort level of your home and increase the energy load on your mechanical systems.

Adding solar shades to South and West windows and incorporating properly sized overhangs can reduce the likelihood of your home overheating.  In addition, this can optimize energy savings by reducing the cooling loads during the summer months

The sun’s intensity can also be used to your advantage; by adding solar panels to south facing roofs, you can capture the suns energy to off-set some or all of your electrical and water heating costs.  If you are designing a ranch or have a large amount of land, consider installing solar panels away from the house on a system that tracks the sun throughout the day, maximizing your return.

Keeping these key questions in the forefront of your design will make your design process a breeze and result in the home of your dreams that fits the needs of you and your family.

Jamie L. Brewster McLeod is the president of Brewster McLeod Architects, which specializing in creating luxury residences in Aspen, Telluride, San Francisco, and Montana. View their profile or contact Jamie at 970.544.0130.

Content for this article provided by Brewster McLeod Architects, Inc.