Design elements in the kitchen are carried through the first floor, such as hand-scraped hickory wide-planked floors, Chilton stone and rustic beams. "Handcrafted would be a term I would use for the kitchen. It’s not overly designed, but very natural," says Renaissance Design and Renovation’s Jody Ryg. The cabinets are glazed knotty alder. The Kohler cast-iron sink has the look of copper. Photo by David Bader

Authentic materials, a design vision and amenable homeowners allowed Renaissance Design and Renovation to create a showplace for a Chenequa couple that reflects the homeowner’s love of the equestrian life and the Southwest lifestyle.

"I use the words ‘Colorado chic,’" says RDR owner Jody Ryg. "It’s a very elegant way of using natural materials."

The project started as many home remodels do, in the kitchen. "There is a dinette off the kitchen that needed the windows replaced," Ryg says. The homeowners also didn’t like the low ceilings there. Since the dinette had a separate roof structure, Ryg suggested vaulting the space to match the soaring ceilings in the adjoining great room.

A 100-year-old white oak beam is the new fireplace mantel, crafted by John McWilliam and his Scaithan team. They also created the metal fireplace grate. The river rock-faced fireplace was redone in a Chilton stone veneer. Photo by David Bader

A desire on the part of the homeowners to further open up the kitchen to the great room led the design team to wholeheartedly pursue the rustic chic theme. "The hardest part of a project like this is how do you achieve this look without it looking contrived," Ryg says. "It takes a lot of ingenuity because a lot of this stuff you are creating. The homeowner has to buy into it because the things you are proposing don’t exist. There has to be a lot of trust."

The custom-made knotty alder handrail by John McWilliam is infused with a metal band; the ballisters are hand-forged metal. The stair runner is custom-made, inspired by a horse blanket, according to interior designer Karen Kempf of Karen Kempf Interiors. Photo by David Bader

RDR called on John McWilliam and the craftsmen at Scathain to transform 100-year-old barnwood into door frames and ceiling beams, keeping the hand-hewn qualities intact. "One of the beams still had the bark on it," Ryg says. "The clients loved it — the more natural the better. They just loved the history that brought in."

Scaithan also hand-forged the kitchen range hood and created a custom wood and iron railing that spans the second-floor catwalk.

The walls in the great room are finished in a skip trowel pattern to give the feel of a Southwest pueblo. A 5-foot window further connects the great room and the kitchen. Kempf says the furniture, lighting and fabrics play into the home’s refined Western theme. Photo by David Bader

"There are just a lot of custom details in the entire project because of the open concept," Ryg says. "We didn’t want it to feel disjointed."

Ryg says the transformation from the 1990s interiors was dramatic. "Of any project I’ve worked on this one had the biggest before and after wow because we affected so many areas," he says.

"This house is such a direct reflection on who these people are — totally sophisticated, welcoming, fun," says interior designer Karen Kempf of Karen Kempf Interiors. m