Triangles are a recurring motif in Lexi duPont’s life. In her family, she’s one of three sisters. As a pilot, she’s learned that triangles are a waypoint symbol in flight navigation. And as a professional big mountain freeskier, she glides down slopes and peaks.

It’s only fitting that her home in Revelstoke, British Columbia, follows the theme. From its sharp, gable roof to the triangular courtyard, Trinity Passive by Stark Architecture is a 3,800-square-foot residence that works every angle.

The first visit to the site was on snowshoes, but traversing snow is second nature for Lexi, a Freeskiing World Tour contender and former Junior Olympics competitor. And while she hails from the family that owns the DuPont chemical company, her life and career choices center ecological conservation. (Her first home is a 500-square-foot geodesic dome in Sun Valley, Idaho.) For this retreat, she worked with principal architect David Arnott to ensure that the residence would focus on sustainability as much as comfort.

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Prefabricated, cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels from Germany allowed for a more efficient construction and drives sustainable forest management and better carbon capturing. The timber also offers aesthetic appeal, creating a cabin vibe.

Ultra-thick walls stuffed with compostable, wood-fiber insulation—“The installers didn’t even need to wear face masks,” notes Lexi—help keep the house passively heated.

“It’s like going back into olden times,” says Arnott. “The whole house is basically wrapped in a giant blanket.” A water entrapment system gathers rain for reuse, and solar panels power the home.

To offset the effect of the double-height volume, Arnott hung the mezzanine over the kitchen, creating a more intimate area within the larger room. The main level holds a guest room and bathroom. Up the flight of stairs, there’s the primary bedroom, plus an office with a pull-out and a daybed.

But should more guests find their way to Lexi’s, there’s plenty of additional room to crash thanks to a large bunk room in the basement. “Ski bum culture is part of our community,” laughs Lexi. “It’s not just a certain type of skier. All skiers are ski bums.”

Before the pandemic, she and her boyfriend had only spent 10 nights in the house without guests. But she didn’t mind the constant company—and will welcome it again when COVID-19 abates. “We wanted this house to be a place where skiers can come and have community together,” she says.

When it came time to furnish the space, Lexi didn’t go shopping; she went treasure hunting. In Bali, she and a friend dug through vintage furniture in dusty warehouses, and wound up shipping home a container of teak furniture and other incredible finds—including a 400-year-old table, a Javanese door that now slides to cover the bedroom closet, a 200-pound coffee table of petrified wood, and oversized drums repurposed as side tables. (The artwork, meanwhile, was less of a journey to source: All comes from Lexi’s friends and family.)

Another contribution from Lexi hides in the land itself. “I gave the contractor a big bag of crystals,” she shares. “I said, ‘You have to put them in there! We need the good vibes!’” He obliged, and when construction was going well, he’d tease Lexi about their powers.

“Maybe it’s silly,” she says with a smile, “but it’s nice to know they’re down there.”

Related Reading:

16 Dreamy Ski Cabins We Wish We Were Holed Up In This Winter

A Former Pro Skier and His Family of Four Embrace the New Normal in Their Airstream

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Stark Architecture / @starkarchitecture
Builder/General Contractor: Tree Construction / @treeconstruction
Structural Engineer: Woodall Structural Engineering
Interior Design: Well Interior Design and Studio / @well_interiordesignandstudio
Cabinetry Design/Installation: Reveal Custom Woodcraft / @revealwoodcraft

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Extreme Skier Lexi duPont’s New Base Camp Is a Passive House in British Columbia