How a Show-Stopping Colorado Home Rose from the Ashes

Designed by a renowned local architect and originally commissioned by an esteemed Mid Century Modern artist, this mountaintop, show-stopping Colorado home went through a rough patch before being restored to its full glory.

“I believe strongly in the law of attraction. Whatever I’m looking for is looking for me,” Max Tucci says. In 2013, he and his partner, Keith Backer, were in the market to buy a home in Boulder, Colorado. Keith’s daughter was living there and found an odd listing for them to consider—a modernist home nestled at 7,000 feet elevation. There were few details available, but it was clearly an incredible design. The home was in foreclosure; the couple made a winning bid with the bank, and that’s when the adventure really began.

exterior view of show-stopping Colorado home surrounded by snowy forest — The exterior of the home is original, made with center-cut redwood. Because of its dry and brittle nature, Max and Keith had to condition the wood by using a specialized oil on the house. “The wood soaks up the oil,” Max explains. “We had to have three applications of conditioning oil. We will have to do it again this year.” To maintain the exterior, they plan to repeat the process every three to five years.

view to snowy forest from inside an MCM living room with standalone fireplace, cork flooring and MCM furnishings — The unusual cast-iron fireplace is original to the home. The tiles that surround it are also original and were restored by Max and Keith.

“We arrived on the mountain at 1 a.m. to see the house, and it looked like Noah’s Ark had just landed on the mountain,” Max recalls. “It’s a massive wood structure. We thought, ‘What did we do?!’ We explored inside the house using our cellphones as flashlights and there was missing sheet rock and flooring, wires dangling, and the kitchen had obviously had a fire because there was soot on the walls. It had a pedigree though; you could feel it.”

Up to the Challenge

Keith and Max are seasoned homeowners with exquisite taste and several other homes. Keith is a lawyer with a practice in Boca Raton; Max is a TV and radio personality with a long-running award-winning show, Max & Friends. He spent a great deal of time in Italy as a child, raised in a family that celebrated art, entertaining and food. In fact, his grandfather, Oscar Tucci, owned famed New York City restaurant Delmonico’s from 1926 until the late 1980s. One of the reasons Max wanted a home in Boulder was to have a writer’s retreat: He was working on coming out this cookbook/entertainment book based on the family restaurant.

The Creative Birth of the Show-Stopping Colorado Home

At first, the homeowners knew nothing about the visionaries behind their unique purchase, but as they did their detective work, they were delighted to discover the architect was Charles Haertling, a mid century master of organic designs hailed for his work in Denver and Boulder. Although he died in 1984 at age 55, he left a legacy of more than 40 buildings, including spectacular private residences and churches.

kitchen of show-stopping Colorado home with Brady Bunch inspired kitchen — “I always wanted a Brady Bunch kitchen,” says Max, who went with a groovy avocado and orange theme. And at Home Depot, the sales representative who helped him? She was a dead ringer for another 1970s icon, Carol Burnett. “I swear, the energy of this house,” Max laughs.

MCM furnishings and standalone fireplace in living room with a view to Roosevelt National Forest in Boulder — The living room sofa is an Adrian Pearsall with its original fabric intact. Above the sofa, the colorful artwork is by contemporary artist G.M. Karas; his work can be seen throughout the home.

reading area under sloped ceiling with Warren Platner chairs and antique Louis Vuitton trunk — Original Platner chairs found at Denver Modernism Week and a Louis Vuitton trunk that belonged to Max’s grandmother, Sesta, create a comfy reading space in the loft library. Max loves to collect books; some from his father’s collection date back to the 1800s. The photo to the left is of Delmonico’s in New York, a famous restaurant previously owned by Max’s grandfather and father for roughly 60 years!

The home was commissioned in 1969 by Clotilde Barrett, a renowned artist who has authored many books on weaving. “I got acquainted with Charles Haertling in Boulder, back when it was wilder, and wanted a house by him,” recalls Clotilde, now living in Torrey, Utah, where she still creates art. “His houses were out of my price range. He was so nice, and said, ‘Well, it is going to be difficult to design a house in this budget, but we’ll give it a try.’ We did run out of money. The basement wasn’t finished at all.” She lived there with her family from 1971 until 1981, when her husband’s health forced them to relocate.

Rising from the Ashes

By the time Max and Keith bought the Barrett House, it had been through two subsequent owners, one of whom had “updated” it with incongruous features like a colonial staircase. Then the structure sat abandoned for about three years, attracting squatters and marijuana growers. But, Max says, “On the bright side, the hell the house had gone through created a blank canvas for us.”

renovated kitchen in Boulder MCM home with stone inspired cabinet pulls and Porcelonosa backsplash tile — A previous owner had changed the original kitchen footprint and removed the original backsplash and cabinets. Max replaced the oak cabinets with InnerMost thermofoil cabinets in “Agave” and used Porcelanosa tile to update the backsplash.

cork flooring and carpeted spiral staircase with Brutalist metal railing in Boulder MCM home — In search of ecofriendly flooring, the couple chose cork. Cork is mid century appropriate and does not transfer cold from a subfloor. The previous owner had installed a colonial staircase, which was replaced. The Brutalist stair railing was designed by the homeowners and created by a local metalworker, Alex Schuldt.

Saarinen tulip table and chairs with custom cushion and table cloth and loft area with shag carpeting — Ecofriendly shag carpeting made from all recycled plastic was used in the TV loft, an area connected to the lower-level dining and kitchen area by two steps off to the right.

view from upstairs to downstairs of Barrett House in Colorado — “The open design upstairs wouldn’t please everyone, but it’s because Charles Haertling involved the whole family in the design,” explains original homeowner Clotilde Barrett. “I had a boy in elementary school and girl in junior high at the time, and they wanted to be part of family life even at night. My children loved that they could eavesdrop on us!”

Over several years, the couple lovingly restored the 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom home, overseeing most of the work remotely. In pursuit of an authentic vision for the home, Max and Keith chose museum-quality pieces for the furnishings. Max’s advice? “Don’t rush things. Really take your time and source it.” The house is back in its artsy groove, frequented by the couple and also available as a chic rental. Now, Max says, “when you turn the key, it’s like an instant flashback to 1971.”

Pearsall couch and slingback chairs in living room of show-stopping Colorado home — This stunning Brutalist sofa was designed by Adrian Pearsall and was reupholstered in rare, vintage Jack Lenor Larsen fabric sourced from a private collector.

“The engineering is incredible,” Max observes. “It’s cantilevered. If you did this house today, it would be a fortune.”

exterior view of show-stopping Colorado home in the snow — Windows throughout the home are all original single pane, but a tint called “Panorama Sterling” was installed by Sun-Ease Window Tinting Boulder. “It keeps the heat in in the winter and keeps the heat out in the summer,” says Max. “[The tint is] almost undetectable in appearance yet provides extraordinary solar heat reduction and ultraviolet protection.”

mountaintop view from Boulder area MCM home overlooking pine forest — Sugar pine and ponderosa beckon from across the stunning Roosevelt National Forest.

vintage door handles on wood exterior doors on show-stopping Colorado home — These vintage door handles are upcycled from a Portuguese bank.

If you loved this show-stopping Colorado home, learn more about Mid Century Modern homes in the region such as A 1959 Denver Ranch Goes Back to the Atomic Age and Midcentury Neighborhoods: Arapahoe Acres in Englewood, Colorado. Or gather more inspiration from MCM homes in rustic locations such as A 1963 A-Frame in the Woods.And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube for more Atomic Ranch articles, house tours, and ideas!