So, what’s the very best thing about living in Durango? Different folks may come up with different answers. Fresh air carrying the scent of pines might come to mind. We certainly love filling our lungs with what the whispering winds bring to us. Friendly people and open spaces keep us smiling. Great food, wonderful lakes to play on and in — what’s not to love?

But if you simply look up, it’s easy to see the dominant force of Durango’s majestic La Plata mountain range. We are inspired by them. They shape our very environment. Many are beckoned to climb them, hike around them — and even live up there in their glory.

If you’re thinking of joining that elevated class of Southwest Colorado residents, it behooves you to take a look at what Colorado homes with mountain designs around here are all about. After all, living up among the heavens demands a different approach to how your home is set up.

Are you ready to make your abode among the clouds? Here are four tips for your Durango mountain home design.

Design Feature #1. Deck it Out

One thing you’ll find when living in an estate in the mountains is that you’ll want to take advantage of both the view and the lovely breeze bringing seasonal tones on the air with it. Setting up a nice, big deck on luxury ranches can make all the difference for taking full advantage of the environment you’re living in. Have it face south for full sunlight exposure, and you can end up with a great space to chill out in, like this 70-foot Brazilian teak design in one of our featured homes.

Design Feature #2. Go Ahead, Start the Fire

Nothing quite speaks to living in the great outdoors like an awesome fireplace. With a lot of Southwest Colorado mountain homes following a rustic frontier decked out in luxury construction, a fireplace can be just as lovely from a design angle as it is a practical consideration. You can see for yourself how a properly set fireplace can balance natural light and darker wood and furniture accents.

Design Feature #3. Big World, Big Windows

When you live in Durango, you’ll want to see as much out your windows as possible. While city slickers may have to worry about privacy, you’re living in seclusion in your Colorado homes with only deer and owls peeping into your property. Designing a home with large windows makes sense not only to enhance your view and let loads of light in, but also to augment the sense of freedom living up here gives you.

Design Feature #4. Raise High the Roof Beams

Remember we talked about that rustic feeling going great with a luxury Durango mountain home? Well, nothing quite hits that note the way a timber design motif home does. Employing a bucolic aesthetic that weaves in modern updates and luxurious lifestyle accents, timber designs can help you attain that old-fashioned woodsy atmosphere without sparing any amenity. The centerpiece of such estates is the big beams that run through your home’s largest spaces, often from repurposed local Douglas fir timber.