MG EXPERIENCE LUXURY
MG EXPERIENCE LUXURY
Rocky Mountain Remodels
One was once a barn, another an old church— there’s nothing cookie-cutter about these Colorado homes
BY MICHELE LERNER
bought it. It’s had many iterations over the years, including as a board- ing house and as kind of a hippie commune. Crested Butte used to be a funky, rundown ski town, and this house was known as a place where people could put their mattresses on the floor.” The Adamses certainly aren’t the first to reimagine a historic building in the Mountain West, where there’s been a deluge of buyers in recent years, many discovering the rustic charms of the region’s early archi- tecture. Whether the home started as the town church, a barn, or even a blacksmith’s forge, owners embrace the quirks and the history of their property, along with the attention an unusual residence attracts. St. Patrick’s Church closed in 1967, but the bell tower, stained glass, buttresses, and other features were preserved in the front part of the property, says Channing Boucher,
Joy and Paul Adams occasionally find strangers in their living room, but they are remarkably understanding. “Our house is converted from a church that was built in the late 1800s, and it has a plaque out front, so some people open the door and walk in thinking it’s still a historic church,” Joy says. “They always apologize, but if I have time, I’ll show them around. Sometimes they have a connection to the old church, such as parents or grandparents who got married here.” Joy, who retired from a career in biomedical engineering, and her husband Paul, who is retired from the petroleum industry, purchased the property in Crested Butte, Colorado, 22 years ago because they loved to vacation in the area. “Paul traveled a lot for work, so we decided we might as well live where we want,” Joy says. “This property was in a derelict state when we
Opposite page: Owners overhauled a blacksmith’s forgery in Aspen, Colorado, into a modern building that includes a luxury residence on the upper level, an office on the ground floor, and entertainment space on the lower level. Above: St. Patrick’s Church in Crested Butte, Colorado, was built in the 1800s but now serves as a family home.
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