Tour a Modern Mountain House Decked Out for the Holidays

For years Lizzy Pendleton’s husband, Clay, tried to persuade her to move from Houston, Texas, to the mountains of Colorado. “I kept telling him no way, I don’t like cold weather — and I couldn’t ski!” Lizzy says. But then Clay, a urologist, got a great job offer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Lizzy agreed to try it for a year, and a decade later, the family is still there. “I fell in love with the community,” she says. The couple’s kids walk to school, even in the snow (Lizzy does too; she’s a social worker there.), and they sled with neighbors right out their back door. A recent renovation transformed the 1970s house into a modern, cozy family hangout. With the help of local firm Rumor Designs, they chose neutral colors and natural materials, which turned out to be the perfect backdrop for the Pendletons’ colorful Christmas decorations. “The holidays here are so fun,” says Lizzy, who finally learned to love winter sports. “We even ski on Christmas Day!”

Part of the makoever included revamping the exterior. A mix of wood paneling and stone marries the family's modern style with their rustic surroundings.

More than just a spot to put shoes on, this merry hallway is home to the family's collection of colorful holiday stockings.

“The goal was for this room to work as well for quiet reading as it does for family game night,” says Lizzy. The white Rene Cazares sectional is upholstered in performance fabric and layered with fun pillows from OKA, Jaipur Living and Pottery Barn. The textured Jaipur Living rug holds up to heavy foot traffic. Come Christmas morning, the family gathers around the leather-and-iron coffee table from Four Hands.

The Pendletons bake a lot around the holidays, so the team from Rumor Designs planned plenty of counter space. The island is topped with black granite; the rest of the counters are Taj Mahal quartzite. Lizzy chose handmade ceramic subway tiles from Clé and white oak cabinets from Cabinetry by Karman to give the space a more rustic feel. The barstools are from Wisteria.

The asymmetrical table, from Four Hands, was Clay’s pick. “He likes the rugged look,” says Lizzy. She added the curvy padded leather chairs, also from Four Hands. The custom banquette, made from white oak, matches the kitchen cabinets.

A supersoft velvet bed from Vanguard Furniture and plush wall-to-wall carpeting make this the coziest room in the house. Pearl, the family’s golden retriever, agrees: “She rules the roost and loves this spot so much,” says Lizzy. The designers chose a striped wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries for the accent wall; the sconces are from Visual Comfort & Co.