Sustainable Retreat on a Fire-Devastated Site in Boulder

Colorado architect Renée del Gaudio and her family were camping when they heard the news: One of the most destructive wildfires in the state’s history was ripping through their property in Boulder. Del Gaudio and her husband, Ross Wehner, had purchased the land just two years earlier, in 2008, with the hope of someday relocating there from Denver with their two small children. In the meantime, they’d leased a tiny cabin on the property to a college student—who was able to escape the blaze—but the structure was destroyed.