Sculpted Space: Then & Now

The Sculptured House is an icon with a Cinderella story. Architect Charles Deaton was intrigued by the idea of living inside a sculpture when he designed the home—the only private residence he ever attempted. Deaton disliked the proliferation of cookie-cutter homes and chose instead to find inspiration in the shapes he saw in nature. “People aren't angular,” he famously said. “So why should they live in rectangles?”

Construction began in 1963, and by the time the exterior was finished in 1966, Deaton had run out of cash. The home stood vacant for nearly 35 years. (When Woody Allen filmed part of his 1973 sci-fi comedy Sleeper there, he had to shoot interior scenes elsewhere because the Sculptured House's interiors weren't complete.) The home sat in disrepair for decades.

Fast forward to 1999, when Colorado venture capitalist John Huggins bought the Sculptured House and had it finished, complete with a 5,000-square-foot addition Deaton had designed. Huggins worked with Deaton's daughter Charlee, an interior designer, and her husband, Nicholas Antonopoulos, an architect who had worked with the elder Deaton before his death in 1996. (Colorado Homes & Lifestyles published the story of the remodel in our October 2001 issue.)

What we learned then—and still know to be true—is Deaton's design inspires us to look forward, to imagine what comes next in the constant evolution of design. There's something about the home's sculptural artistry that challenges us to imagine what's possible.

So nearly seven years after our original story ran, we checked in with the current owner, who invited designers from AERA Studios to reveal how they would update the interiors. Builders from Rosewater Construction joined them to refresh—and in some cases, repair—this captivating space.

The Sculptured House Redux: Below, pictures from CH&L's original visit to the house in 2001 paired next to images of this summer's fresh take on an architectural icon.

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