Step Inside a Cape Cod-Inspired Ranch in Bow Mar

In 2018, Amy Millisor sold the 10,500-square-foot modern mansion her family had lived in for five years and bought an older home just a few doors down. After her husband’s sudden death, she was ready to downsize and create a new space for herself, her teenage kids, and their two shih tzu pups—and the lot overlooking Marston Lake felt like just the place to do it. “I knew I wanted to build a warm, inviting home to host parties and family for the weekend without feeling overwhelmed by a large space,” she says.

After scraping the dated house that sat on her new property, Millisor knew exactly whom to call to create a family home in its place: Andrea Schumacher—Millisor’s friend and the designer of her previous home—and architect Matt Stais, who worked on a group of Breckenridge vacation properties that Millisor and her late husband developed before settling in Bow Mar.

A Cape Cod native, Millisor has a deep love of East Coast architecture and shoreside living. But, as is the case for so many Colorado transplants, mountain-inspired architecture has found its way into her aesthetic, as have pieces collected during her travels to far-flung destinations, from Southeast Asia to the American South. “I love to purchase meaningful items to remember my special trips,” she says. Millisor tasked her design team with creating a home that touched on each of these style influences while honoring her family’s past, present, and future.

With East Coast and Rocky Mountain vernaculars in mind, Stais selected an exterior materials palette of cedar-shake shingle siding, buff stone accents, and jet black trim. Inside, French and sliding glass doors offer panoramic views of Marston Lake and Mt. Evans to the west, while chunky wooden ceiling beams and a custom floating fireplace in the great room evoke a cozy mountain lodge.

The fireplace’s wood veneer wallcovering was one of the first finishes Schumacher chose for the interiors. “Its color mimics the water, and its texture also draws in the mountains,” she says, noting that similar blue hues were used on the nearby kitchen armoire and bar cabinet. “In a way, we used that watery blue color as a neutral.”

These cool tones reappear in the glamorous powder room, where Schumacher paired a vibrant, teal-painted ceiling with a custom vanity constructed from a blue-stained, vintage Dongbei sideboard that she found on 1stDibs and selected as a nod to Millisor’s Asian travels. The elegant, hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper doubles as fine art, while delicate, gilded-iron sconces add a touch of Southern charm.

Mindful of Millisor’s vision of a house that entertains well, Stais and Schumacher placed the bar in the great room in order to draw guests out of the kitchen. The modern bar cabinets have a historic counterpart in a pair of repurposed 19th-century teak columns from India, while the wall sconces and hammered-metal coffee table mimic the brass accents in the kitchen.

Schumacher’s effortless mixing and matching of design details is on full display throughout the house: art deco–influenced tile in the main bathroom, midcentury-style chandeliers in the dining room, a leather-fringed chandelier in the entry. Uniting them all is the narrative of the family that lives here. “This house is a more condensed and efficient form of living than the previous home,” Schumacher says. “Before, [Millisor] was just filling up space, but this home is full of pieces that are intentional and that she loves.”

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Design Pros

Interior Design: Andrea Schumacher Interiors
Architecture: Stais Architecture & Interiors
Construction: Haley Custom Homes
Landscape Architecture: Viewpoint Design Group