Vail Valley Home Magazine
Fireplaces

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Vail Valley Home, December 2024 · Written by Kimberly Nicoletti

Vail Valley Home’s survey of modern fireplace design features a Sipes Architects fireplace framed in black steel that doubles as one side of a staircase wall. The family passes it as they climb from the garage and mudroom, so the fire becomes part of coming home: a window at the top of the stair frames the trees, and warmth rises with them as they climb. Brian Sipes, principal of Sipes Architects in Minturn, explains that the design also meets the code requirement for a wall or railing along the stair. The article places the project alongside fireplaces by other Vail Valley designers, noting a shift away from the river rock common in the 1970s and 1980s toward dry-stack stone, large slabs and steel.

“We wanted this fireplace to be part of the everyday experience of arriving home.”
— Brian Sipes

Published in Vail Valley Home. The full article appears below.