542 Carroll Drive, Aspen, CO 81611

You climb to it. The town falls away behind you, and at the top of the ridge the house reveals itself -- long lines of glass catching the light, the whole valley opening up beside it. Set high in Starwood, this private and secluded estate whispers luxury six hundred feet above the valley floor, on thirty-eight acres. That elevation is the point: you hold the sun long after everyone else has fallen into shadow, you keep the quiet when the valley fills below, and you own a view few homes in Aspen can match -- the ski mountains across the valley and the Elk Range behind them, snow or wildflowers depending on the month. Delicately designed where the view is the main point throughout, the residence wraps walls of glass in charred cedar -- shou sugi ban, the centuries-old Japanese tradition. Inside, light oak underfoot with gallery-white walls built for art. A Boffi kitchen reduced to its essence -- a single long island of leathered stone with the gas cooktop set into it,...