Confront us with a range of peaks, and we react, often vigorously. We want to climb them, ski them, look at them, breathe them. The urge to conquer extends to building a dwelling when we head for those hills, likely on inhospitable ground. Quite possibly that breathtaking piece of paradise is a homesite with a steep slope, rife with rocks and very large trees. And the structure built on that site must be sturdy enough to stand up to strong winds and possibly hundreds of inches of snow every winter, while providing a warm and cozy ambience, usually with sky-high ceilings. No wonder peak time elicits strong emotions.

The designs depicted here show how five problem solvers adapted to their own mountain sites. They provide a range of ideas for high-altitude living in the height of style.

LUGANO, SWITZERLAND
Rustic it is not. But this minimalist chalet shares some fundamental characteristics with mountain lodges throughout the world. It is durable, bold, and brings the outdoors in through its use of windows, decks, and terraces. The white post-and-beam structure reflects and intensifies the light, which changes with the seasons. The first floor is open, with an airy second-floor gallery that allows the light to disperse throughout.

The modular home is manufactured by Huf Haus, a three-generation German firm that just opened a United States sales office called dotGreen, based in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. A Huf house typically contains 30 percent glass in the form of triple-glazed insulated panels, warp-resistant beams of Scandinavian spruce, concrete ceiling panels for their sound-insulating properties, and eco-friendly geothermal heating systems, with solar and photovoltaic panels.

Home: 3,422 square feet
Lot: 0.22 acre
Elevating Details: Huf Haus has placed one of its homes at 8,200 feet in the Alps, complete with an avalanche retaining wall.

WHITEFISH, MONTANA
This vacation home in Whitefish Hills, a gated community in the Flathead Valley, is situated to take advantage of views of Glacier National Park. When designing a mountain home, says the architect, Robert Gilbert of Stillwater Architecture, “we often look backwards before going forward, at time-tested methods that may hold up better than trendier methods. In the past, people built with materials they found within a mile.” Thus, the timber in this home is a species native to the site—Douglas fir—and the stone that was brought in resembles the stone on the property, so the low-slung, sprawling structure looks to be a natural outcropping from the ground.

The stone and massive timbers, including the braces that buttress the gable and roof over the entrance and first-floor library, are handsome but also functional. “Not only do you have to consider a possible snow load of 260 pounds per square foot,” says Gilbert, “but this is near the Pacific Rim and zone 4 seismic activity.”
 
Home: 7,049 square feet, plus garage and 1,768 square feet of exterior decks
Lot: 20 acres
Elevating Details: A breezeway separates the master bedroom from the house; the mudroom does double duty as a garden-lover’s potting room.

EDWARDS, COLORADO
Like many mountain retreats, this one is built on a steep slope, the type of plot that typically holds a home with a walk-out lower level. Unlike most, though, this log lodge, at Arrowhead Mountain Estates in the Vail Valley, is at the base of an abandoned black-diamond ski run, which affords a private, bright white backdrop in the winter. The upward-facing view demands attention, but the home’s designer wanted a welcoming front entrance that wouldn’t feel like a lower-level approach. “Though it’s a 13-foot ascent, we didn’t want it to feel that way,” says architect Tab Bonidy, president of Tab Associates. “We used landscape elements and a grand rock staircase to get you three-quarters of the way there.” Once you’re inside, the last four feet of steps into the high-ceilinged living room seem insignificant.

Bonidy notes that “clients may have a Colonial or a penthouse elsewhere, but the majority have a strong draw to live in a log home when they’re in the mountains, and most like large, grand, lodgelike spaces.” In counterpoint to the lofty living room, a hearth room off to the side offers a more intimate space for the owners when they are home alone. Another feature typical of the lodge look is an open floor plan, because “there’s a huge desire for the kitchen to converse with the living room,” Bonidy says.

Home: 8,450 square feet
Lot: 2.05 acres
Elevating Details: The butler’s pantry is practical, says Bonidy, “because the only complaint about an open floor plan is seeing dirty dishes after a party.”

BENZIE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
Timber framing is an ancient construction technique that makes for a durable mountain home. A timber-frame design typically consists of a vertical skeleton that is enclosed with another material. The Craftsman timber frame shown here is located on a lake in a hilly region that Michiganians consider mountainous, on a sloping lot that lends itself to a walk-out lower level. The owner, who is an architect, wanted to draw attention to this building style, and brought the project to Riverbend Timber Framing in Blissfield, Mich. The finished home has an interior that calls to mind a cathedral amid the trees, with buttresses, arcs, and different geometries of wood. The first floor is a combination of open and secluded spaces, overhung by a second-floor loft, which also is the gateway to a third-level observation loft, reached by a spiral staircase.

“There’s an inherent strength to timber-frame buildings,” says Riverbend’s design department manager, Marty Birkenkamp, which makes them a natural fit in challenging climes. The company uses energy-efficient structural insulated panels and insulated concrete foundation forms that work in tandem with the frame to resist high winds and snow loads.
 
Home: 4,196 square feet, plus garage and bonus room (total 6,200 square feet)
Lot: 10 acres
Elevating Details: The home’s green credentials have earned it six awards for energy efficiency.

NORTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA
The seed for this barn project came to the architect while he was in the car. “We were driving around, seeing barns in the Sierras that were built in the 1920s and were still standing,” says John Sather of Swaback Partners. His vision of a rugged High Sierra barn became the Family Barn at Martis Camp, a private golf community in North Lake Tahoe. The exterior is board-on-board, a look that Sather also incorporated into the four single-family barn cabins that he designed at Martis Camp. The barn is built for a wide range of uses, all of which are pulled together into a cohesive building. It includes gathering rooms, a game room, an old-fashioned soda fountain, an indoor basketball court, an art loft with studio space, a movie theater, bowling lanes, and a concert stage that opens out at the side of the barn onto an outdoor amphitheater. The heavily braced construction includes a copper roof and stone at the base, to weather the impact of deep snow and help protect against wildfires. Meanwhile, the barn doors are all aligned so that they open to views of the High Sierras.

“The barn,” says Sather, “is intended to fulfill the nature of life after golf. It’s a mix of uses that may bring families together.”
 
Barn: 18,000 square feet
Lot: The wooded area is laced with walking trails and overlooks a small lake.
Elevating Details: An outdoor swimming pool adds another activity to the barn’s list of uses.