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Aspen Design House Earns Spot on 2024 Luxe Gold List for Pseudo-Chateau
February 6,
2024 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry 
“The proverb that ‘A man’s home is his castle’ is usually understood to be a metaphor. But, in the case of this abode just outside Carbondale, Colorado, the previous owners had taken it literally,” wrote Luxe Interiors + Design magazine in early 2023 as the intro to the story of a “mesmerizing transformation” by Aspen Design House of the former pseudo-chateau.
Fast forward a year, and that successful project has now earned the Colorado design studio’s owner and creative director Denise Taylor and senior designer Geneva “Gigi” Podolak Knox a coveted spot on the 2024 Luxe Gold List, which honors top design professionals that Luxe acknowledges as creators of “inspirational homes.”
“We are thrilled to be a 2024 Gold List honoree among so many great design talents,” says Taylor, “and we extend sincere appreciation to our innovative and imaginative clients, who confidently entrust us with the task of crafting their homes.”
Perched on a bend of the Roaring Fork River and offering imposing views of Mount Sopris and enough room to welcome the clients’ four adult children, their growing families and friends, the renovated home that Aspen Design House has named Intimacy in Nature – and that won them Gold List status after its featured appearance in Luxe – was originally dark, with heavily textured walls and imposing Old World woodwork.
Working with Travis Jadwin of Silverado Building, the Aspen Design House duo undertook a total reimagining of the residence, creating a distinctive layout specifically tailored to the clients’ needs.
Walls were smoothed and finished in bright white throughout and expansive windows and sliding doors were introduced for an enhanced connection to nature. In the great room, a gloomy full-wall fireplace with arched side niches was refashioned as a simple “floating” two-sided hearth servicing dual seating areas while allowing light to flood the space.
Formerly ponderous furnishings were replaced with clean-lined modern pieces in creamy neutrals to keep the focus on surrounding nature. But Aspen Design House prides itself on crafting beguiling bespoke interiors that translate homeowners’ personalities into “a design fairy tale,” as Luxe put it, for clients around the globe as well as in their own Aspen, Colorado, backyard.
So, far from being bland, these interiors are rich with character courtesy of curated selections of Western-themed contemporary art and intriguing textures – like the living room’s cast-natural-root console table and fleecy custom-designed swivel chairs.
Meanwhile, exuberant, fashion-forward wallcoverings and luxurious touches of gold – including the Hubbardton Forge stairway chandelier that Taylor custom-designed to suggest a flock of birds in flight – appeal to the clients’ playful side.
“The final effect is of a light, modern space designed for family, friends and fun,” wrote Luxe. “Everything we thought about and had a vision for, we got,” the husband told the magazine about the finished project, and his wife agreed: “The outcome is fantastic.”