This Earth House in Colorado Is a Wonder Inside & Out

Name: Adrian Young, husband, two children (ages 4 and 5)
Location: Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Size: 2800 square feet on seven acres
Years lived in: 1 year, owned

We dreamed about creating a space to cultivate curiosity, celebrate play with our kids and immerse in the great outdoors. We believed we weren’t the only family yearning to disconnect from frenzy and focus on simplicity, presence and intentional connection. We found this neglected thing of splendor and tried to breathe fresh life into it so it could offer moments of magic to visitors.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” — W.B. Yeats

What is your favorite room and why? The tower. This underground abode was an architectural delight but the true sense of wonder comes from the rooftop access from the four-story tower attached to the main house. A hatch to the top offers the most spectacular stargazing you can possibly imagine. We take wine and blankets and spend evenings watching shooting stars, spotting satellites and being wowed by the Milky Way… so much gratitude and perspective happens here.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? One of my favorite purchases was a series of vintage Turkish rugs to adorn the original tiles flooring throughout. This helped to round out all the “new” with a comfortable lived-in vibe we were aiming for.

Which fictional character would be most at home in your place? Alice in Wonderland. We refer to our pad as Wonderhaus because of the magic you can find within and around it, if you choose to view things through that lens (looking glass). She embraces imagination, adventure and considering things from a different point of view and this leads her (like the home) to a fresh understanding of herself and her surroundings. That’s exactly what this space has offered my husband and myself and we cherish it.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Feel and honor the space and intention of the people that will use it. Ignore design rules and exacting guides and step into a design flow that comes from imagining what it’ll be like to enjoy the space and then fill the space with the things needed to do that.

I’m not an interior designer but I absolutely love the process of creating spaces using this approach. It immediately makes it feel just right to me and that’s how I evaluate a successful renovation… does it feel just right when I’m done. Swoon.

Thanks, Adrian!

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