Back to the Future
Photos by Richard Pruitt
Three Peaks home evokes the classic lodges of our national parks
Poised on its slope overlooking the fourth hole of the Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks in Silverthorne, Richard and Margaret Marshall’s sunny log home embodies the high country retreat that is the stuff of dreams for so many of their fellow Denverites.
Just a short drive from the city, it’s in the midst of a mountain playground, the perfect jumping off point for adventures that take the family golfing, hiking and fly fishing in summer or skiing in winter at nearby resorts.
But more than that, this magnificent mountain hideaway represents Richard Marshall’s long-cherished creative dream to design a personal expression of the vintage National Park lodge aesthetic that inspired him. 
A landscape architect, Marshall and his firm created site and land planning for employee housing at both Yosemite and Grand Canyon. During frequent visits to the parks, he became enchanted with the rough-hewn architecture of the spectacular early 20th century lodges like the Ahwahnee, the El Tovar, and the Bright Angel.
He researched the historic details of their iconic western style and incorporated much of their influence into the design guidelines that his firm — Denton, Harper, Marshall (now DHM) — helped generate for new structures at the parks.
The idea of creating a home reminiscent of these heirloom lodges but on a more intimate scale began to fire Marshall’s imagination. As an undergraduate in landscape architecture at Kansas State University, he had acquired a solid background in design, construction and engineering.
Teaming with architecture students on class projects had added to his knowledge; he’d also taken an introductory design course or two.
Now Marshall began to investigate log home design and construction in earnest, even traveling to Montana to talk with the experts who led the top companies building dozens of log homes a year.
“It was very exciting to actually be doing it,” says Marshall. “I love the grand timber look, the scale of the logs and the natural stone. All of it adds up to this authentic, honest, western use of materials that transmits a real permanence in the midst of wilderness.”
As he began the first sketches, he knew he also wanted to borrow the sense of grandeur that high ceilings and monumental interior volumes give the park lodges. And to anchor the building’s honesty, he wanted all the logs to be structurally significant, not mere decorative accents with no real reason for being.
Marshall designed the plan in collaboration with Marc Hogan of Baker, Hogan and Houx Architects www.bhharchitecture.com and hired local contractor Phil Travis to build it www.travisconstruction.us
Craig Carroll of Monroe & Newell Engineers www.monroe-newell.com did the structural drawings for the log work and foundation.
A few months into construction, Marshall developed a true sweat equity appreciation for the complexities of overseeing a 5,500 square foot home that aspires to a perfectionist level of finishes and materials.
But when it was done, the home vindicated all that time and effort by winning a total of seven Parade of Homes awards, including best overall floor plan, best interior design and finishes, best kitchen and — perhaps the owner’s favorite — best landscaping. Not bad for a beginner.
Now, he’s looking forward to putting his design and construction savvy to work on his next project, though he and his family will part with this home with mixed emotions.
“We’ve loved having such a great party house for our family and friends,” says Margaret Marshall. “People tell us that even though it’s large, it just feels very comfortable and warm and inviting to them.
Much of that is due to the logs and all the windows that let in lots of light.” When necessity demands, the five-bedroom, six-bath home can comfortably sleep 16. Sweeping views from virtually every room overlook Red Mountain and Buffalo Mountain while in the distance loom Keystone, Breckenridge, and the Continental Divide.
The interior relies on rich woods and warm earth tones mixed with jewel colors for an air of mountain elegance that’s casual enough for the comfortable Colorado living the family enjoys.
Recalling the imposing public spaces of the vintage park lodges, the great room’s chinked log walls and majestic geometry of trusses rise to a 25 foot high, wood paneled ceiling.
The Marshalls chose most of the furnishings themselves, sometimes consulting with interior designer Mary Jo Finley of Finley, Jones and Harris in Breckenridge.
There’s plenty of room for the gang to gather around the stone fireplace, either on the handsome ranch-style chocolate leather seating or along the cushy adjacent window seat.
The dining room table is custom made from recycled fir timbers and three copper inlaid panels.
Chairs and bar stools are handcrafted in solid hickory and covered in a Southwest blanket palette, perfectly expressing the rustic theme.
The owners’ artistic taste runs to dramatic landscapes, western scenes, and wildlife such as the bear and coyote portrayed in artist John Neito’s famous bold colors.
Outside through double doors, a generous south-facing deck serves as a front-row seat for the amazing mountain and golf course views. It’s also a popular spot for summer barbecues, and good-natured heckling of golfers who land in the water hazard of the fourth hole.
An expert and highly inventive chef, the lady of the house insisted on her fantasy working kitchen doubling as social hub, a place where she could have fun cooking with friends.
With ample caramel-toned granite countertops and two sinks for prep work, slicing and dicing becomes a happy excuse for group togetherness.
Those not actively involved can enjoy a glass of wine and socialize while seated at the kitchen island or the curved granite breakfast bar. 
This gourmet kitchen is well-equipped to handle a hungry crowd with a professional six-burner Wolf gas cook-top plus griddle, double Wolf convection ovens, warming drawer, separate Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer, and two Asko dishwashers.
Leadville master craftsman Tom Charles custom-built all the cabinetry in the home, including the glazed maple kitchen cabinets with contrasting whitewash stain accents.
A loft overlooking the great room provides a secluded place to get away to read or watch TV. One corner holds an office, and two queen sleeper sofas offer additional quarters for guests.
The master bedroom suite and a guest suite are located on either side of the great room. The large, comfortable master has big windows framing the views, plus a dramatic stone fireplace and vaulted, beamed and paneled ceiling.
Another virtually identical master suite with its own fireplace occupies the lower floor.
Both master baths boast the very lap of luxury in their separate steam showers with spa jets, jetted soaking tubs, and double sinks set in slab travertine stone and maple vanities.
Two additional bedrooms that share a bath are also located on the lower level along with a large family gathering room.
This relaxing space is outfitted with the ultimate in entertainment: a state of the art, 96-inch big screen home theater with surround sound.
There’s also a pool table, and one-of-a-kind antique mirrored oak back bar that once graced a turn-of-the-century Central City hotel.
Set in a beautiful stone wall near the bar is an arched hobbit-like door that leads to the wine cellar where the Marshalls like to host festive tastings.
The family room opens up to a lower deck and an eight-person hot tub that provides a soothing antidote to chilly mountain evenings.
A stairway connects the hot tub to the master suite on the main level as well.
Together, the Marshalls and their team have created a home whose log heritage pays masterful homage to the West’s storied past, while incorporating all the tasty refinements that modern living has to offer.
“It’s really rewarding to get to the end and have something that’s great quality and feels so good to live in,” Richard Marshall adds.
“The whole experience has been very satisfying, both creatively and personally.”
Colorado writer Joy Overbeck’s work has appeared in Redbook, Health, Parent's, Woman's Day, TV Guide, Colorado Expression, 5280 Magazine, and more.
