34 | 5280 HOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 photograph by KIMBERLY GAVIN • styling by ELAINE ST. LOUIS
EXTERIOR: COURTESY OF PETR WIESE / MOUNTAIN HOME PHOTOLike most kitchens in grand old estates,
the one in Colorado’s Redstone Castle
was a hardworking space for the household
staff; the property’s original owner, coal and
steel magnate John C. Osgood, likely never
set foot in the room. But when April and
Steve Carver won the 1902 castle at auction
in October 2016 and set about transforming
many of its 42 rooms into a stylish boutique
hotel, the husband-and-wife fixer-uppers
had more modern functionality in mind.
The Carvers tasked Mikal Otten, owner
of Denver-based Exquisite Kitchen Design,
with transforming the lackluster kitchen
into a welcoming space not just for food
prep, but also as a spot where guests could
gather throughout the day.Step one, Otten says, was creating an
“easy and simple layout.” On one side of the
rectangular room, a pair of farmhouse sinks
flanks a Wolf range crowned by a hood. The
opposite wall accommodates a coffee bar for
guests at one end and stainless-steel appli-
ances at the other. And running down the
center of the space—and taking cues from
the fictional Downton Abbey kitchen—is a
13-foot-long, marble-topped worktable.
Step two: choosing period-appropriate
finishes. “At the time this castle was built,
they wouldn’t have had a grand, beautiful
kitchen,” Otten explains, “so our aim was to
find details that would tie the new space to
the property’s heritage.” After scouring the
Tudor-style castle for inspiration, Otten andApril settled on a timeless palette of dark
oak floors; cream-colored custom cabinetry
modeled after the home’s original Stickley
built-ins; pale, handmade ceramic back-
splash tile; and three countertop materials:
antique-black granite around the room’s
perimeter, a locally made walnut slab, and,
on the center table, Yule marble quarried in
the tiny nearby town of Marble.
Otten skipped the upper cabinets
(“because they didn’t have them back then,”
April explains), opting instead for walnut
shelves mounted on iron brackets—a nod to
steel-man Osgood. The shelves float in front
of the original arched windows flanking the
hood, creating the illusion that the windows
are a matched pair (they aren’t!). The take-
away? In castles or condos, it’s little details
like these that often pack the biggest de-
sign punch. theredstonecastle.comSeven arched windows (six
of them original) flood the
kitchen with natural light, which
kitchen designer Mikal Otten
emphasized by creating a high-
contrast palette of dark wood
finishes and light cabinetry and
local Yule marble.
RENOVATIONThe Crystal River Valley’s iconic Redstone Castle gets a brand-new kitchen
befitting its turn-of-the-century Tudor style and its latest incarnation
as a boutique hotel. • by CHRISTINE DEORIO
DESIGNING HISTORY
34 | 5280 HOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 photograph by KIMBERLY GAVIN • styling by ELAINE ST. LOUIS
EXTERIOR: COURTESY OF PETR WIESE / MOUNTAIN HOME PHOTOLikemostkitchensingrandoldestates,
the one in Colorado’s Redstone Castle
was a hardworking space for the household
staff; the property’s original owner, coal and
steel magnate John C. Osgood, likely never
set foot in the room. But when April and
Steve Carver won the 1902 castle at auction
in October 2016 and set about transforming
many of its 42 rooms into a stylish boutique
hotel, the husband-and-wife fixer-uppers
had more modern functionality in mind.
The Carvers tasked Mikal Otten, owner
of Denver-based Exquisite Kitchen Design,
with transforming the lackluster kitchen
into a welcoming space not just for food
prep, but also as a spot where guests could
gather throughout the day.Stepone,Ottensays,wascreatingan
“easy and simple layout.” On one side of the
rectangular room, a pair of farmhouse sinks
flanks a Wolf range crowned by a hood. The
opposite wall accommodates a coffee bar for
guests at one end and stainless-steel appli-
ances at the other. And running down the
center of the space—and taking cues from
the fictional Downton Abbey kitchen—is a
13-foot-long, marble-topped worktable.
Step two: choosing period-appropriate
finishes. “At the time this castle was built,
they wouldn’t have had a grand, beautiful
kitchen,” Otten explains, “so our aim was to
find details that would tie the new space to
the property’s heritage.” After scouring the
Tudor-style castle for inspiration, Otten andApril settled on a timeless palette of dark
oak floors; cream-colored custom cabinetry
modeled after the home’s original Stickley
built-ins; pale, handmade ceramic back-
splash tile; and three countertop materials:
antique-black granite around the room’s
perimeter, a locally made walnut slab, and,
on the center table, Yule marble quarried in
the tiny nearby town of Marble.
Otten skipped the upper cabinets
(“because they didn’t have them back then,”
April explains), opting instead for walnut
shelves mounted on iron brackets—a nod to
steel-man Osgood. The shelves float in front
of the original arched windows flanking the
hood, creating the illusion that the windows
are a matched pair (they aren’t!). The take-
away? In castles or condos, it’s little details
like these that often pack the biggest de-
sign punch. theredstonecastle.comSeven arched windows (six
of them original) flood the
kitchen with natural light, which
kitchen designer Mikal Otten
emphasized by creating a high-
contrast palette of dark wood
finishes and light cabinetry and
local Yule marble.
RENOVATIONThe Crystal River Valley’s iconic Redstone Castle gets a brand-new kitchen
befitting its turn-of-the-century Tudor style and its latest incarnation
as a boutique hotel. • by CHRISTINE DEORIO
DESIGNING HISTORY