Eldorado Springs Garden House

Whole-house remodel and addition built within existing gardens and landscaping

This whole-house remodel and addition was designed around the existing gardens and natural elements, uniquely integrating the structure with its environment. A path from the parking area twists through rocks and gardens between Douglas firs to the porch.

While some additions are designed to blend seamlessly with an existing structure, in this project the goal was to honor the existing house with a contrasting addition. Using green construction materials and techniques, we blended the distinctly different addition with the original cottage.

Inside, the light-filled modern addition was designed to create a relationship between the old and new parts of the home, and the interior is a combination of stucco, steel beams, stone and wood, which are also used on the exterior.

The new master bedroom is cantilevered into the tree canopy — a private treehouse! To keep it toasty in the colder months, we used spray foam insulation — which also makes it feel more solid in windy weather.

The wood wall along the open staircase used to be the exterior wall, so we brought the knotty pine inside — the carpenter storyboarded the paneling so the door would be evenly positioned between the planks. The staircase splits the eras, creating a transitional space. The staircase itself is crafted from steel stringers with the guard rail welded right in for a thin, clean, minimal look. Our attention to detail can be seen in the close-up of the landing — not only does the grain harmonize, we mortised a walnut spacer so it’s visually interesting even on the ends.

We created a transitional foyer space where the old front door was, tucked into the original stone foundation. The wall, though, is imperfect, and flares. Our masons found matching stone on the site, extended the flared wall inside and set the window inset between old and new.

The tall glass wall between the structures frames views of the dramatic heart of Eldorado Springs Canyon State Park.