How This Aspen Retreat Redefines Outdoor Luxury

Sitting on a five-acre hillside lot in Aspen, Colorado, this extraordinary residence by Charles Cunniffe Architects isn’t just a feat of architecture—it’s a new definition of outdoor luxury. While the interiors are designed to gather and ground a multigenerational family, it’s the outdoor spaces that truly elevate the experience of mountain living.

Unlike most homes where landscaping feels like an afterthought, here it’s a carefully considered extension of the architecture. Landscape architect Jason Jaynes of DHM Design created a series of meandering walkways that move gently with the land. Instead of carving through it, the trails follow the mountain’s natural slope, encouraging exploration and reflection. Each step reveals a new vantage—some expansive, others intimate—framing the landscape as a living, breathing gallery that changes with the seasons.

One of the most remarkable elements, though not fully captured in the print feature, is the terrace’s hidden secret: a hydraulic pool system designed in collaboration with Twinscape. With the push of a button, the stone-tiled surface retracts, unveiling a pool and spa whose depth is adjustable—from wading level to five feet deep. It’s an elegant solution that keeps the outdoor area uncluttered and serene, especially during Aspen’s snowy months when the pool can remain hidden beneath a flush, walkable surface.

The rest of the outdoor program is equally intentional. Fire pits are positioned for sunset views. Terraced planting beds blur the boundary between cultivated and wild. There’s even a Zen garden set below the home’s glass bridge, transforming a restricted building zone into a space for quiet contemplation.

This is not a home that simply sits on a mountain—it’s a home that listens to it. Every line, path, and planting shows restraint not in ambition, but in respect for place. In a setting where nature speaks loudly, this home replies not with grandeur, but grace.