“Many houses in Aspen are overwhelming in scope and mass,” says Mark Iola, the owner of this year-round house. “We wanted a contemporary house, but the environment had to be a priority.” The setting was five acres of grassy meadows that slope down to a confluence of two rivers. To design their house, Iola and his wife, Sarah, found a kindred spirit, John Cottle of CCY Architects (Cottle Carr Yaw) of Basalt, Colorado. “The idea was to get the architecture to nestle into the meadow,” Cottle says.
The only part of the house visible from the driveway is the entry structure and a volume for the home office that protrudes from a mound above. Not seen are two additional floors below the office, which are embedded in the slope. Over 75 percent of the 14,000-square-foot residence is tucked below grade.
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