My Thoughts on a Proper Place

The mountains speak to us. That’s why we live here. Or escape there.

Our 2020 Home of the Year is a design that offers all of the above—mountains, home, escape. I am grateful to homeowners Bill and Fiona Arnold for allowing us to share their pretty-perfect spot in the Eagle County hills. I’m also thrilled to honor the home’s architect (and Circle of Excellence winner), Kyle Webb. This labor-of-love team also includes designers Jan Chenault and Celeste Chianea, who found all the just-so but not-too-much pieces to go inside.

Enjoy another mountain retreat, this one in Telluride, which is one of our 2020 finalists. To round out this year’s selections, we present a glassy, classy Denver townhouse.

We hope that, as you sit down to peruse this issue, the world has opened up a bit and we are moving toward a new, more social normal. We wish you good health, fresh air, big sky—and lots of it.

What I’m Loving

If there’s one thing I hope we all take away from our current crisis, it’s that we need to support each other. Gift Cards are a practical, impactful way to help the people and places that feed your soul. For me, that’s included my favorite bakery (Moxie Bread Co.), restaurant (Annette), bar (Room For Milly), coffee shop (Blue Sparrow), floral boutique (Bloom) and nonprofit (There With Care). I can’t wait till they’re all in smoother waters.

I saw these bracelets on Instagram and loved their colorful simplicity. Plus, LOVE is my religion, so the message fits. Then I read about how the company, Ubuntu Life, emerged from a friendship between two pastors, one Kenyan, one American. Their first project was a center for disabled kids, and next they started helping the kids’ moms get to work. These beaded bracelets are the specialty of Maasai craftswomen. I bought them for my daughters as a little reminder to spread love on a daily basis—and as a mom thank-you for the daily love they give to me. $15–$30; ubuntu.life

Last year I wrote about Denver bird-lover Ian Redfield, now 17, who sells his avian artwork on beautiful linen cards and donates all of his proceeds to the World Wildlife Fund to protect them. Redfield’s 2020 collection of cards includes five new designs—the white-bellied heron, the cherry-throated tanager and the forest owlet among them. A set contains 10 cards (4” x 6”) and envelopes for $18. forthebirds.world