Vail Valley Home Magazine
Visual Clarity

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Vail Valley Home, June 2021 · Written by Kimberly Nicoletti

Vail Valley Home’s “Visual Clarity” explores why some homes simply feel right: intention, proportion and meaning. Brian Sipes, owner of Sipes Architects in Minturn, explains how small decisions add up, from placing a house on its site for views and quiet to centering electrical outlets under windows. He argues that editing matters most in small homes and condominiums: concealing appliances, keeping countertops at one height and not turning every element into a feature. He also notes that even traditional Vail architecture should have its own clarity. He points to the Walking Mountains educator housing, designed around views of nature, as proof that good design does not require a large budget, and recalls designing view-focused homes in Lake Tahoe in the early 2000s.

“Intentionality separates great design from good design.”
— Brian Sipes

Published in Vail Valley Home. Related project: Walking Mountains Educator Housing. The full article appears below.