A conventionally rugged material like stone doesn’t usually play a lead role in a contemporary material palette. But architect Chris Davis wanted the house to blend in rather than dominate the landscape around it. So concrete forms with a rough stone veneer grow up out of the ground and cut through the house as both exterior and interior walls. The contrast between rugged stone and the sheen of more refined materials stands out in the master bath. Slick, low-maintenance surfaces that shed water dominate the room. Polished stained concrete floors found throughout the house continue into the bath. The stone gets reinvented as sleek, small-scale tiles covering the wet walls behind the vanity and shower. The choice of various glossy finishes is intended to emphasize the stone’s texture rather than obviate it, explains Davis. “We really wanted to express the stone wall as both an interior and exterior material,” he adds, “so we tucked a window up tight against it.” Each rock had to be hand milled to receive the window frame and create a tight seal. The tall, slender window lets in abundant natural light while its edgy positioning maintains privacy.
Builder: Deneuve Construction, Boulder, Colo.; Architect: Semple Brown Design, Denver; Photographer: Ron Pollard Photography Resources: Plumbing fittings/fixtures: Agape, Dornbracht, Grohe, and Kohler.
