Vail Magazine
Sunburst Story

About this article

Vail Valley Magazine, Summer 2021 · Written by Connie Steiert

“Golden Retreat” tells the story of a home on Sunburst Drive, beside the Vail Golf Course, that the owner’s parents built in the 1990s as a family vacation home. When it passed to the next generation as a full-time residence, Sipes Architects kept the house’s bones and made targeted changes. The exterior corners were squared off, and the gold and maroon stone was replaced with white stucco and gray granite. A zinc-shingle roof nods to the zinc mines at Battle Mountain near Minturn, the roof pitch was raised, and the chimney was moved to center the entry. Heavy railings gave way to wrought iron that opens views of the Gore Range, and the front porch was doubled in size. Evans Chaffee Construction built the project, with interiors by Five Interior Design.

“We did small things, but they had big impacts.”
— Brian Sipes

Published in Vail Valley Magazine. Related project: Sunburst. The full article appears below.