Goatbarn Lane
Category: up to $2.5 million in construction cost
Goatbarn Lane is a full-time residence for the architect’s father, who sought to live simply and respectfully amid Colorado’s unique mountain landscape. Its architecture explores the power of less and, in doing so, the impact of each of its elements grows while sustainability comes naturally. Throughout, the home demonstrates that minimal design can connect us to places, simplify our lives, and inspire us in profound ways.
Colorado’s gold mining history informed the design, which flirts with the simple sheds, barns, and homes that miners erected to adapt to the state’s rugged landscape. The home reclaims that vernacular through simple yet functional design that firmly roots it in its context.
The steel-clad structure sits along an outcropping of rock that provides shelter from the north. A viewing platform cantilevers over the first floor toward the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Below, steel legs anchor the home to the rock and allow a bedroom to float above the undisturbed hillside. Despite only being 1,860 square feet, the home fosters a rich feeling of abundance.
"The project beautifully negotiates a sloping terrain through stacked building volumes, in the process creating a choreographed series of indoor and outdoor spaces that invite movement and passage." - Jury Comment
The home’s simple organization and its two volumes foster a calm and clear connection with its natural surroundings as it sits quietly among the pines. Its orderly, exposed structure supported by simple materials reinforces the driving architectural concept.
“The project beautifully negotiates a sloping terrain through stacked building volumes, in the process creating a choreographed series of indoor and outdoor spaces that invite movement and passage,” noted the jury.
Goatbarn Lane is built to respond to a warming planet with defenses against wildfires and a highly efficient design. Its cladding, concrete base, and ironwood eaves work together to create an ignition-resistant shell. The home’s siting beneath the shade of giant ponderosa pine trees, its floor-to-ceiling windows, and renewable energy allows the home to operate net-zero electric with no mechanical cooling.
In the architect’s view, what makes a project one that people will fight to preserve is rooted deeply in authenticity. That authenticity only happens when a building emerges so strongly from its place that it cannot be imagined in any other setting. In that way, Goatbard Lane is a truly authentic home.
