Project: Colorado Dude Ranch
Location: East of Castle Rock, CO
Region: A remote region on the eastern foothills of the Colorado Rockies

Climate:
Arid, high altitude, cold winters and dry summers, with an abundance of sunshine all year.

Context:
A bluff overlooking a barren region of rolling hills clad in sagebrush along the Front Range. This is a large parcel of property with striking views of snow-capped mountains, rock outcroppings, and distant mesas.

Brief Description:
This is a cluster of buildings perched on
a bluff is designed for a wide range of uses, enabling urban cowboys (and cowgirls) a unique retreat. An indoor basketball court, swimming pool, lodge, billiards room, wine cellar, media room and diningroom provide refuge for visitors during foul weather. Outdoor activities include tennis, horseback riding, hiking, and story telling around an amphitheater and fire pit.

Guiding Metaphor:
City Slickers

Structural Systems:
Heavy Timber

Green Features:
Passive and active solar systems, outstanding views and extensive daylighting, energy-efficient envelope, local materials, and drought-tolerant landscape design.

Other Noteworthy Features:
An solar-heated indoor swimming pool is designed to serve as a heat sink for a water to air heat pump heating system. Landscape is to be left in its natural state, with porous gravel drives and preservation of dwarf oak clusters.