Skycatcher
Skycatcher is a 4,400-square-foot custom rebuild completed in 2024 after the Marshall Fire. For a retired couple returning to a place of profound loss, the project began with a single objective: to bring them home again to a home they would love in the location they adored.
While the couple loved many aspects of their original home, rebuilding presented the chance to address some of its shortcomings. Skycatcher became an opportunity to keep what worked, refine what didn’t, and create their "dream home”, tailored for aging-in-place. We started by carefully listening to their wants and needs. The first move was to re-sculpt the land, lifting the garage out of the basement and onto the main floor for necessary and convenient aging-in-place. The overall layout revolves around main floor living, with an open public core, two kitchen islands for entertaining, vaulted ceilings, fireplaces for warmth and coziness, and dedicated spaces for the clients’ passions—her sewing and quilting studio, and his photography study. A guest bedroom in the basement of the old house was relocated to a second floor, with outstanding views and its own deck.
The site’s defining feature is its expansive view of the Flatirons and the wide Colorado sky. A central organizing axis runs parallel to the mountain horizon, allowing the home to pull the landscape deep into the plan. Bedrooms, the main living room, and an upstairs sitting room affectionately called “the Snug” all face the mountains, while a sprawling deck across the back of the home extends indoor–outdoor living into the views.
Arrival is designed as a sequence of welcome. Guests approach along a winding garden path and enter beneath stone and heavy timber forms that feel sheltered by the adjacent hillside. A custom glazed front door delivers an immediate “wow” moment—an uninterrupted sightline through the home to the mountains and sky beyond. Inside, the open plan reads clearly, with subtle compression along the main hallway signaling the transition from public gathering spaces to private retreat.
Materiality and resilience are inseparable here. Stucco, stone, heavy timber, and treated wood soffits create a distinctly Colorado feel. Expressive stained wood finishes, granite slab countertops, and stone fireplace surrounds bring warmth and craft to the interiors, while an open-tread wood stairs brings light through all levels.
The home achieved both dramatically improved fire resilience and Net-Zero Energy (HERS -2) with a tight, continuous thermal barrier, an Energy Recovery Ventilator for abundant fresh-air, and an all-electric mechanical system. The home is Energy Star Next Generation certified and includes an 11kW PV solar system.
Skycatcher is a project about rebuilding with care - transforming constraint into expansion into the next phase of life, and transforming tragedy into a new green home that feels personal, supportive and deeply connected to the landscape.
Built by Skycastle Construction
Interior design by D2D Studio
Built by Alive Studios
ʻʻ The quality of the finished house is outstanding and from what we saw throughout the build, the quality of the contractors they used were exceptionally good at every step. We are very pleased with the construction of our house and very happy to recommend Skycastle Construction for your house construction if you want a quality built house “done right” ʼʼ
- Michael, Owner