When it comes to his Aspen home, big-time architect Chad Oppenheim prefers small, cozy spaces.
I’ve written a lot of design stories about Aspen homes designed by famous architects but even better was when I got to interview a world-famous architect for Aspen Sojourner magazine about the Aspen home of Chad Oppenheim.
I’d come to learn Oppenheim is a big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, that getting an interview with him felt like trying to connect with a celebrity or a rock star. He has people. Handlers. Lots of offices. Busy schedule. That said, I was expecting, for lack of a better description, an arrogant asshole. When he turned out to be so down to earth and accessible that it almost felt like we knew each other already, that was the first surprise.
The second was his home. This guy goes big. Huge. He does massive mixed-use commercial projects all over the world, some that are denoted on his online portfolio as having an “undisclosed location” and most of which are ultra-luxury and super modern. You might expect a guy like that to build a trophy home in Aspen, but I’d come to learn that wasn’t the case.
(Note to self: maybe try not to be so judgy.)
“The house is one of the smallest on Red Mountain. It literally could fit within the living room of the house below us,” Oppenheim told me. The 1971 wooden barn house was gutted and renovated into a 3,300 square foot, five-story structure made mostly of reclaimed barnwood, local stone and lots of windows to take in the view. Not small by any stretch, but a far cry from the monster homes that define a prestigious neighborhood in a town where the cost of real estate rivals that of Manhattan, a literal billionaires club.
“But we wanted that intimate, cozy cabin experience.”
The coolest part of this interview, other than the chance to talk to a world-renowned award-winning architect, was that it validated so many of my own instincts about design. Here’s a guy who could have built whatever he wanted, no holds barred. He purchased a small, old cabin and then chose to build within the existing footprint. He was most excited about the unique, intimate spaces that resulted from the constraints he was forced to design within. Like the cozy kitchen with low ceilings and wood paneled walls, a kitchen Oppenheim referred to as “more functional than these big, gourmet kitchens you see in trophy homes” a kitchen more appropriate for his wife, Ilona a Swiss-born cookbook author (daughter of xx who founded La Prairie) who likes to forage for her own ingredients. There’s a lounge room, an enclosed space with a wall-to-wall king size mattresses adorned in shearling blankets and this funky alcove in the master bedroom that had space for little more than a slouchy mid century modern chair and a huge window that makes the view the focal point of the room.
True, this isn’t a small or modest house by any means. It’s also true that this guy has several other homes, including Miami, and a home on the three-mile stretch of beachfront on a private island on the Bahamas. But what I took away from our conversation is bigger isn’t always better and good design can be found somewhere near the junction of function and beauty. I love that a guy who could have chosen anything, chose this.
