Alpenglow Cabin

We had a vision, a dream. A place to unplug, to get lost in nature, to feel the relief of solitude and the call of the wild. A place to gather with friends and family. Good honest food under a wash of stars, laughter around the fire, long hikes and snowshoe tramps, morning soaks in the hot tub with a mug of coffee in hand. Beauty, quiet, wilderness.

After years (and I do mean YEARS) of hunting for a mountain property, we found it: a run-down cabin at the base of Independence Pass at 10,000 feet in elevation. There are four of us: Daniel Kortsch, Christine Bayles Kortsch, Jon-Marc Kortsch, and Laura Engelman. Two brothers and their spouses, all with a sometimes out-of-control DIY bent, a passion for design, and a deep love of nature and wilderness. We walked inside, and there was La Plata Peak watching over us and National Forest for a backyard, and we knew this was the one. The 2001 interior was dated and dreary, but the bones were good and the location couldn't be topped. So together with Daniel and Christine’s two boys, we rolled up our sleeves and renovated every inch of the cabin. Four months of working every single weekend and here it is: Alpenglow Cabin!

The view cannot be beat. The cabin is surrounded by some of Colorado's highest peaks (we're literally staring right at La Plata Peak, the fifth highest peak in the Rockies) and the backyard is National Forest, but the interior was dated and dark. Built in 2001, it needed a major refresh. Universal pine paneling, dated bathrooms with clunky Home Depot pine vanities and sad claustrophobic plastic shower stalls, maroon cork and floor and dated carpet, a hot tub dominating a bright red deck with green trim: it was time for a change!

Within 24 hours of closing, we had already started priming the pine paneling. We did a complete gut and remodel, salvaging what we could, which wasn't much (the cabinets, island, stove, and refrigerator). We ripped out maroon cork floors and dated carpet, demoed a flagstone heart pad (a brutal job), painted the deck (also a terrible job), removed a giant chain-link fence from the backyard, scared ourselves silly on tall ladders painting exterior trim, and renovated the kitchen and all three bathrooms. Daniel handmade a lot of the furniture in the cabin, including the live edge white oak dining table. Literally every single surface was gutted and refinished.

Because of the remote location on Independence Pass (at 12,095 ft, it's the highest paved pass in Colorado), even the most minor hiccup or forgotten tool required a 30-minute drive (each way) to the nearest hardware store (sometimes randomly closed--welcome to small mountain towns USA). Working in such a remote location, half the battle was strategically planning what tools and materials we needed to haul up in order to get certain jobs done each weekend, and then of course there the were the sweaty dump runs on the way home.

It took us four months of working every single weekend. When you think about it, it's actually a ridiculously fast turnaround! We'd head up Friday morning, work like crazy until Sunday, drive home and head back to our full-time jobs. We are thrilled to enjoy it as a family mountain hideaway and also to share it with others on Airbnb (elopements have been extremely popular this year!). Coming soon: workshops, dinners, and intimate retreats!

All photos by Daniel Kortsch or Christine Bayles Kortsch.