Builder/Architect Article May/June 1999

Eero Saarinen once said, "Always design a thing by considering it in its larger context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan." People say that Kurt Geary's custom homes fit the Colorado landscape like a columbine in an alpine meadow. On carefully engineered home sites set amongst towering pines and granite escarpments, these homes share the thunder of the Rocky Mountains without stealing it. Blending so well with the mountainside, they are often barely discernible until someone points them out-and this is no accident, as Geary proudly notes.

"You were the recommended builder by Twilight Peaks, so we decided to give you a call. It was the best decision we could have made. Building long distance was a breeze thanks to you and your incredibly dedicated subcontractors and employees, and the ideas you added as the construction process evolved were invaluable. We love our place! Please feel free to have anyone thinking about building here call us-we wouldn't hesitate to recommend you as the best builder in Durango. Thank you so much for making our dream a reality.

-John and Marcy Salazar

"All building begins with the earth. If you're going to build-and cut down some trees-you need to respect that space. You can go to the lot, sit quietly and just listen for awhile, and the lot will tell you-you can't improve on nature." Like the builder himself, Geary's clients have a deep respect and admiration for nature and the environment; indeed, this is essentially a prerequisite for a working relationship with this builder. Yet it would be a mistake to categorize Geary's homes as strictly mountain rustic, however. This builder is also a strong proponent of "smart house" technology.

"People moving to this area want to be electronically connected, even if they don't think of it at first. We pre-wire each house so it's set up for virtually anything they want," he says. "We 'future proof' all of our houses by pre-wiring with Category 5 wiring and fiber optics, so that they are set up for computers, extra phones and faxes, security, sound and digital TV, which can be used now or in the future. It's fairly inexpensive to pre-wire a house in the initial construction phase, compared to going back in and retrofitting later. We like to build in maximum future expandability. Correctly installed, this setup saves the homeowner time and money."

Kurt Geary began his career in building over 27 years ago, long before he moved to Durango. While attending college in Chicago, he worked in construction on the side. As it turned out, carpentry and woodworking offered a better outlet for his creativity than the school curriculum. After college, Geary, by then a journeyman carpenter, made the decision to pursue a career in construction. His early life experiences played a part in influencing him to choose a hands-on career such as building over a desk job.

Builders tend to be visionaries, and to understand what inspired Geary's vision, one need look no farther than his family background. His mother, a professional artist, earned her degree from the prestigious Chicago Art Institute, and thus, Kurt grew up in a home where fine art was continually being created. He was motivated to develop his own creative awareness and talent, including the strong sense of design and proportion that can be seen in all the homes that Geary builds. His father, who was a supervisor at General Motors, provided an equally strong left-brain influence, bringing out the mechanical aptitude in his son.

With college behind him, Geary spent the next few years working with residential builders in the Chicago area, learning everything he could about building fine custom homes.

He knew that he wanted to build mountain homes in Colorado, and in 1979 relocated to Aspen for that purpose, and worked on large custom homes with a variety of builders in this alpine setting. At the same time, he had the opportunity to study and learn more about the intricacies of mountain design.

It wasn't until Geary and his wife Joelle moved to Durango in 1982 that he began to apply his design skills on a more comprehensive basis. While Geary possesses no formal architectural degree, practice building in the mountain style honed a working knowledge of what works practically and aesthetically in high altitude environs. While Kurt has partnered successfully with many architects to build homes, many of his clients, enchanted with the look of his custom homes, still insist on "design by Geary."

There are some common threads in his building style: for one thing, you will never see a Kurt Geary home that isn't built to maximize views on all sides.

"We also have remodeled and fixed homes that were not built in this way," he says. "By elevating the roof and ceilings, reorienting the floor plans and removing everything that stands in the way, we have been able to restore the views and the reason for having a mountain home. The views are the greatest thing about being here. It's a real waste not to keep that first and foremost when planning to build a home here."

As Geary builds, he works to bring the outside in. As he says, "When you look out the windows and see the materials you have used to build the house, then you're on the right track."

In a typical K.W. Geary home, the aspen ceiling reflects and brings inside beauty of the aspens along the riverfront lot. There is a pass-through window from the kitchen to the deck that wraps the side of the cliff and the fire pit. Geary and his team brought this 4,000-square-foot haven for high-end mountain lifestyle to completion in about 10 months. Standing in the living room of this house, situated on the granite promontory between the Hermosa Cliffs and Missionary Ridge, there's a sense of adventure in the expanse of glass framing the sky and mountains and the breathtaking space beneath.

For all of his progressive design ideas, this is a builder who genuinely prefers a hands-on approach. The appeal of a computer program for designing faded for Geary when he discovered that he lost the hands-on feeling of artistry, the special give and take and rapport that comes from huddling over a plan with his clients, scheming and dreaming together.

"It was our good fortune to have Kurt Geary design and build our home in Durango. We found Kurt to be highly professional, creative, and very sensitive to our lifestyle. His dedication to detail resulted in a beautiful home we are not only very proud of, but very comfortable living in. Kurt is creative, competent, diligent, ethical and extremely knowledgeable. We highly recommend him as a designer and general contractor."

-David and Eugenie Ganevsky

"Most importantly, we want the building process to be a fun and pleasurable experience for our clients. We want them to look back and say, we had a great time doing this, we'd hire K.W. Geary Builders to do it again next time. "

As he draws up his designs, Geary first considers access to nature, and typically incorporates a walk out from every room, even in the kitchen, to facilitate this. Standard bathroom features include generous windows and open tiled showers so that no door is necessary. His craftsmen bring in slim Lodge pole logs, exquisitely crafted, for handrails on the stairs, and cap bar counters with split logs two feet wide. For floor coverings, he generally recommends white oak, slate, or some other organic treatment, depending upon the home. There's a recessed grill at the entry for knocking snow off boots.

Again, to define these homes simply as mountain rustic would not do them justice. The influence of the masters is subtle, yet clearly evident. An example is a home near Purgatory Ski Resort, with ceiling and windows that frame the sky, joining together in an intricate pattern of vaulted planes and angles, line and light. An effect like this, Geary acknowledges, is difficult to design, and even more difficult to execute; he credits his talented team of subcontractors for being able to accomplish the end result.

There is a hint of Frank Lloyd Wright in many of the angular planes of his homes, yet Geary claims the resemblance is subconscious. "I respect his creativity and genius," he says, but he has never tried to emulate the architect. Still, the symmetry in the lines of Geary's soffit treatment and signature lapped-cedar fascias are very reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts style.

-Eugene Haskin

In keeping with the on-going celebration of nature, K.W. Geary Builders incorporates details that delight his clients without evaporating their budgets-covered porches, outdoor fire pits and gas grills, pre-wiring for music to the deck-are marks of nearly every home they build.

"Overhangs, and decks never go out of style. It doesn't have to cost a lot more, either-it just takes more thought and planning. As we listen to what our clients really want and need, we look for ways to do certain things more economically, so we can reserve money for the things that are most important to them."

A case in point: last year, a client approached Geary with a $40,000 set of plans estimated at $250 to $300 per square foot. After interviewing the client and getting a real sense of their needs and expectations, both agreed to set aside the plans, and worked closely together to design a home more in keeping with the site, one that met more of the client's actual requirements. And for less money: situated high among the tall pines overlooking Columbine Lake, this home now stands complete at approximately half of the originally estimated cost.

This extra thought, the willingness to go the extra mile for his clientele, is perhaps what best defines Kurt Geary's reputation in the building industry. His business cards display the dark/bright circle of the Yin and Yang, symbolic of the interaction of the natural forces that maintain harmony in the universe, for a reason. It is a potent clue to his philosophical approach to construction.

"Our goal is to build homes that are appropriate for the setting, and in harmony with the environment," he explains. "You wouldn't build a mountain home on Cape Cod, and we don't encourage people to build Cape Cod style up here."

This is for reasons far beyond just the aesthetics, for as Geary says, "Building in Durango has been a real learning experience. There are specific building techniques for this area you can only learn from experience. The snow loads in Durango can be twice those of Aspen or Snowmass, and the freeze thaw cycles at these altitudes can generate a 50 degree differential in a day, which can tear up roofs and siding. It takes good mountain architectural design to correct for these natural pitfalls."

Using materials like rubber barriers on roofs and foundations, and kiln-dried channel rustic cedar siding that has been sealed and ultra-violet blocked at the factory, Geary helps his home buyers avoid future maintenance problems by designing his homes to be structurally sound, and and then some. "My houses are substantial," he says. "we like to go overboard on 'stout and solid.'" Retaining the services of the best structural engineers in Durango ensures adherence to this credo as well.

This region offers a challenging and competitive arena for builders. Soon after he came to Durango, Geary was partnered with another sought-after builder of high-end mountain homes, and they weathered an economic slowdown that put many other Durango builders out of business, designing and building about 50 custom homes together in a sought-after developement north of Durango, before Kurt set out on his own.

"As an accomplished custom home builder and developer in the Aspen area, I highly appreciate the importance of trust and performance in any relationship. Kurt takes his relationships and responsibilities very seriously and bases his business philosophy accordingly. I highly recommend Kurt to anyone who may be seeking a trustworthy professional."

-Scott Samborski, President,
Timberline Custom Building Corp.

In the process, he built up a solid team of the most talented and trustworthy craftsmen in the Four Corners area, developing relationships and loyalty which endure today.

"I love building in the mountains, and I loveDurango," he confesses. "Just commuting up the Animas Valley every day reminds me of why we came here. I'm very thankful to be able to design and build dream homes in an area where other people come for vacation."

Visiting Kurt Geary's construction sites with the builder, his subcontractors joke with him. "What is it-everybody gives me a hard time," he says wryly. Of course, it's the sort of teasing that demonstrates respect and camaraderie on the part of the subs for their affable leader, a sign that they enjoy working with him. Many area builders covet these relationships: to quote one of the major building suppliers, "He's got the best subs in Durango working for him." And he keeps them busy: the company is now building an average of 10 custom homes per year. A business that, by word of mouth, has grown like wildfire, repeat customers, and more than 170 beautiful and innovative homes stand as testimony to his ability to define and focus on his niche.

For the future, according to Kurt Geary, the company looks forward to building more of the same-and also some bigger and more challenging projects. Their most recent home in progress, sited between two majestic 100-year-old ponderosa pines, is a $2.1 million project. Standing on the rough granite base of a foundation above Tamarron, the views of Needles and the valley below are breathtaking from the site. After four weeks of blasting and two weeks of forming on solid rock, the foundation is ready to be poured. The completed cedar log and stone home, designed by the homeowner and Geary as a team, will have 37 corners, a glass bridge to the master bedroom, and a hot tub on a deck cantilevered over the cliff on steel I-beams. Owners and subcontractors alike are following the progress eagerly, sharing Geary's excitement and pride in being part of creating a work of art.

For Geary, this house is simply another of a series in a gallery of fine custom homes: even as he is building it, he is brainstorming ideas for the next one. "I'm still that kid at heart," he says. "I literally lay awake at night and build these homes in my mind. I want the last house we build to be the best thing we have ever done."

If their track record is any indication, this will always be the case.