Perched atop a rocky hillside within Colorado’s vast natural landscape, this cabin-style home offers the ideal retreat for family gatherings and outdoor recreation. Designed to withstand the cold weather environment of the Rocky Mountains, the home captures the essence of indoor-outdoor living with an inviting four-season room overlooking the breathtaking mountain landscape. Designed and built by Dream Makers Landscape, the space adapts to the changing weather conditions without compromising views or aesthetics. Blurring the lines between interior and exterior spaces, multiple NanaWall frameless glass patio doors work in tandem to create not one but two versatile indoor-outdoor living rooms perfect for lounging, entertaining, and creating memorable experiences with friends and family.
Elevated Mountain Living with Frameless Glass Patio Doors
A Home Built for Indoor-Outdoor Living
In cold weather environments like Colorado, the challenge of building homes that complement indoor-outdoor lifestyles requires thoughtful design considerations. The team at Dream Makers Landscape took on the challenge when tasked to reimagine a cabin-style home into an indoor-outdoor retreat for homeowners seeking to optimize landscape views and outdoor recreation. They envisioned a flexible patio extension with convenient amenities to facilitate outdoor cooking, al fresco dining, and ample space for entertaining. Key to the design was implementing a dynamic four-season room that could open to merge interiors with the outdoors and close to create a sheltered indoor-outdoor space during inclement weather.
Creating a Year-Round Lounge Space
The enclosed living space serves as a functional home extension, maximizing square footage while providing a seamless transition to the outdoor amenities. The prominent use of warm natural wood and stone elements throughout elevates the cozy, cabin-like ambiance for a heightened sense of being one with nature. Inside, the four-season room was furnished with a dining table, a comfortable lounge space, and a built-in stone feature that provides counter space and conceals a convenient refrigerator. A projector and screen provide entertainment and when not in use, the screen easily folds away to allow the landscape to take center stage. Optimizing these views are two 8-foot-tall NanaWall frameless glass patio doors that visually disappear with sleek, uninterrupted sightlines.
Disappearing Opening Glass Doors Elevate Views
The frameless glass patio doors create a disappearing threshold with frameless panels that fold away into discreet stacks, transforming the four-season room into an outdoor lounge that seamlessly connects to the wraparound patio. Their top-hung design eliminates the need for a floor track and is instead specified with adjustable floor sockets to deal with tolerances and building settlements. A wide seven-panel system reveals exceptional landscape views of Mt. Morrison to the East. The adjacent six-panel system offers a functional window door combination with two window-sized panels over the counter space. The windows individually open to create a convenient pass-through window when cooking or entertaining out on the patio. For optimal functionality, a specified swing door offers quick outdoor access when the opening glass doors are kept closed.
Four-Season Living at Every Corner
Adjacent to the four-season room, Dream Makers Landscape built a more intimate indoor-outdoor living room perfect for quiet relaxation and contemplation. Here, an additional five-panel frameless system opens the indoor-outdoor room to a small balcony and a stairway with direct access to the outdoor amenities. The seven-foot-tall system was specified with a swing door for quick transitions to the outdoors when the panels are kept closed. The space becomes a light-filled, cozy lounge with disappearing frameless glass patio doors to mimic the feel of being outdoors but without the fuzz. During warm weather months, the panels easily glide into a discreet stack to fully embrace the cool breeze and lively sounds of nature.
Complementing Folding Glass Door Adds Flexibility
Connecting the interior living areas to the four-season room is a wood framed folding glass wall. The six-panel system creates a spacious 18-foot-wide opening to the outdoor room and patio, seamlessly merging the two spaces into one continuous living area. Quadruple laminated, cross-grained wood delivers exceptional energy efficiency and a touch of elegance to the space. Customized with complementing sapeli mahogany frames, the wood framed folding glass door features a flushed threshold for seamless transitions, making the four-season room a true extension of the home. The transparent opening glass doors work in tandem to optimize natural daylight throughout the year. When open, interiors are flushed with fresh, pine-scented air.
Cozy, Mountain Living with Frameless Glass Patio Doors
The frameless opening glass doors specified on the exterior offer a durable windbreak and low-maintenance barrier from the elements without compromising ease of operation. These frameless systems have been independently tested for over 100,000 opening and closing cycles, ensuring durability and performance for years to come. Inside, the NW Wood 540 was specified with Low E insulation and double glazed panels for optimal cold weather performance, ensuring the home remains warm and comfortable year-round. To achieve utmost comfort, multiple space heaters were installed along the ceiling perimeter for additional warmth. The result is an indoor-outdoor living space where friends and family come together to create new memorable experiences amidst the breathtaking Rocky Mountains backdrop.
Final Thoughts
Winner of the Best Cold Weather category at the 2023 NanaAwards, this charming Colorado mountain home exemplifies the best in indoor-outdoor living. Its welcoming four-season room with disappearing frameless glass patio doors delivers the ideal transitional space between indoors and outdoors for peaceful lounging or lively entertaining. ‘“The homeowners loved their new outdoor space and thanks to NanaWall they have a space with great views and comfort,” says the contractor. “They just hosted a party and their guests were amazed with the glass doors that provided a great view of winter in the mountains.” Amidst the Rocky Mountains backdrop, this Colorado home turns every season into an opportunity for unforgettable moments and seamless indoor-outdoor living.
Discover how homes in cold weather climates reimagine indoor-outdoor living with NanaWall opening glass doors in our extensive library of residential case studies!