In the historic silver and gold mining town of Telluride, Colorado, a home could not be perched amid the radical San Juan Mountains without some exchange taking place. Like an old mine that steps up and into the hill, this home takes its cue from the area's colorful local history. Red rock cliffs and fluid forest in turn lend their majesty for a grand presentation.

This house, designed by Theodore Brown and built by Alpine Log Homes for writers John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene, combines traditional and historical materials with the unexpected - window bucks formed concrete, and the windows themselves vary from squares and triangles to octagons and rectangles.

John Naisbitt writes that "Logs are difficult, but when you take the time to understand them, to meet their demands, they live and breathe in a way that drywall and paint never can."

The log and plaster stairway near the home's entrance mimics the "viga" and stucco design of adobe pueblos.

(Photos by Ken Redding)