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80 | Homes & Estates
historic home hit the market in 2003, she jumped at
the opportunity to own a place of her own in the core.
“It reminded me of my childhood in the
Midwest,” says the St. Louis native. “The core has
this cozy, neighborhood kind of feeling, where the kids
can walk to the slopes and everywhere, where dogs
and families descend on Koch Park. It is my family’s
tradition to be in the core.”
Once she became the new owner of the J.M.
Dixon House, one of her first orders of business was
to reduce the smallness of many rooms — a classic
calling card of so many Victorians built before the turn
of the century.
“Space is the ultimate luxury you can have,”
explains Ferer. “I wanted to give this house a feeling
of space, flow, light and happiness while working with
its grand architectural bones.”
However, she was not in a rush. After renovating
homes in Manhattan and East Hampton, she also
recognized the insight that time would provide.
She lived in the home for nearly two years before
embarking on an ambitious renovation that involved
close collaboration with architects, engineers and
master craftsmen who all had to work within the Aspen
Historical Society’s restrictions. Eventually, she settled
on a design that married the charm of Aspen’s history
with her casual, pared-down, Hamptons-influenced
design aesthetic.
The home was stripped down to its bones to
reveal the architecture’s beauty in its purest form.
Wooden floors, white walls, high ceilings, intricate
molding and millwork were all carefully arranged to
provide a breezy and modern atmosphere for display-
ing art — and serve as the hallmarks that define the
seven-bedroom house. A large addition to the original
square structure brought the total square footage to
6,462, while an adjacent carriage house was con-
verted to a separate guesthouse. Walls were care-
fully taken down on the main level to make way for
seamless entertaining areas that flow from the living
room, open kitchen and family room. Other thought-
ful modern-day touches include a screening room,
sauna, outdoor spa and grand master bedroom with
spectacular views of the mountains.
The remodel was so painstakingly undertaken
that the J.M. Dixon House earned an Aspen Historic
Preservation Award in 2005. It was a proud moment
for the owner – but not so proud as her latest achieve-
M
uch has been written about
Mountain Modernism in Aspen.
Less widely known is the town’s
rich Victorian architectural tradi-
tion. Built by the mining barons,
investors and entrepreneurs of the late 1800s, most
of the historic Victorians are located in the West End.
In the heart of downtown Aspen — what the locals
simply call “the core” — Victorians are much more
rare. One exceptional mansion, a charming Queen
Anne resting on a large corner lot on Cooper Avenue,
just three blocks to the gondola and one block to Lift
1A — was built in 1890 for miner J.M. Dixon.
A designated landmark by the Aspen Historical
Society, the unique square-shaped residence, with its
wraparound porch, columns, spindle work and two-
story bay window projection, immediately caught the
eye of an artistically minded New Yorker who had been
holidaying in Aspen for decades with her family and
always dreamed of owning that house one day.
“It belonged to a friend of mine who once
hosted me there with my kids 20 years ago,” recalls
Christy Ferer, a former TV correspondent, decorat-
ing book author and media entrepreneur. When the
Pure Preservation
BY DRESDEN SCOTT
A RARE QUEEN ANNE MASTERFULLY MARRIES THE
CHARM OF ASPEN’S HISTORY WITH THE DESIGN
AESTHETIC OF THE HAMPTONS.
MOUNTAIN WEST SPOTLIGHT