Written by Gemma Johnstone
Photos courtesy Erik Schumacher and Elissa Watson
Elissa Watson and Erik Schumacher weren’t planning on buying a property in the Rocky Mountains. “We’re building a house here in Hawaii. We have busy jobs, two little kids and so many things going on that we don’t need one more complication,” Erik explains. However, in 2020, when Elissa’s sister showed them a getaway in the rural community of Hahns Peak Village, located just north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, it was love at first sight.
“We didn’t know anything about timber frame homes,” Erik says. “But we just looked at the structure of that place and thought, ‘Wow, this is not just a home; this is art you can live in.’”
The three-story, three-bedroom hybrid home was lovingly crafted in 2007 using a variety of locally sourced, natural materials. One of the standout features is the master craftsperson’s beetle-kill pine staircase. “It has bluish-grayish streaks in the wood, and the treads are super thick. It just looks so substantial,” Erik raves. He describes it as bringing nature into the living room, and it’s a great way to reuse felled lumber that mountain pine beetles destroy, leaving behind a unique blue hue in the process.
Despite the home’s striking fir beams, spruce rafters, peeled log posts and tongue-and-groove ceiling, it’s still airy and bright — there are 52 windows and glass doors and an impressive 27-foot-tall ceiling.
With so many windows, you may wonder how warm it is in the unrelenting Colorado winters. The couple — and their guests — don’t. The original owner designed the home to follow LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. The home’s energy-efficient, green construction incorporates clever design elements to keep things cozy — including the use of recycled denim for insulation in the floor between the first and second levels and building a large central fireplace from Telluride Gold stone.
The location and the panoramic views from the large deck make the house all the more appealing. “You’re looking out at the mountains surrounding you and down to Steamboat Lake below,” Erik says. There are only a couple dozen houses as neighbors in the small, historical community, which boasts vast National Forest land for a back yard.
Hahns Peak Village has major four-season appeal, with Nordic and backcountry skiing, hiking, hot springs, fishing and hunting accessible not far from the door. Steamboat Ski Resort, offering some of Colorado’s best skiing on its iconic “Champagne Powder,” is a 40-minute drive away, as is the town, with its Western ambiance and wide range of amenities, from famous restaurants to beloved après ski hangouts.
Erik and Elissa list the getaway on Vrbo and Airbnb and say whatever time of year you plan a visit, the outlook always impresses. The village sits in a bowl with its own microclimate. “We’re another 1,500 feet higher than Steamboat Springs,” Erik explains. So it can be colder in the winter for sure, but for adventurous guests, that translates to the ultimate vacay: long days in fresh powder capped with evenings spent by a roaring fire in this timber treasure.
