By Jen Murphy
Photography by Casey Dunn
Whenever Jenna Grosfeld seeks inspiration, she often turns to the past. The Los Angeles–based designer’s fine jewelry line, Jenna Blake, and homewares collection, Casa Blake, reference a wide range of decorative periods, from Art Deco to midcentury modern. “I appreciate each period for its individuality,” she says. “And there’s an art to blending them together.”
The Aspen home she built with her husband, developer Jason Grosfeld, perfectly embodies that love of mixing aesthetics from various historical eras. Set on a quiet, tree-lined street near the heart of downtown, the 15,500-square-foot residence is more than meets the eye, fronted by a white-washed Victorian cabin that was built in 1883 during the town’s mining boom.
Unoccupied for nearly 50 years, the cabin was old but far from dilapidated. The couple was immediately drawn to its location, the large lot it sat on (a rarity downtown), and its history and Victorian bones.
A careful restoration ensued. The original low-pitched roof and slender columns were meticulously repaired according to the town’s Historic Preservation Commission guidelines. “We had to stay absolutely true to the original exterior,” Grosfeld says. It took five years, and around $20 million, to rehab the building and connect it via a breezeway to a sleek, modern home wrapped in glass and dark wood. Only a limited amount of square footage could be added above ground to the eight-acre lot, so the couple channeled Aspen’s historic mining shafts and dug down 45 feet to create the new extension.
When it came time to craft the interiors, however, they made a significant design pivot. “Because the structure was so well-preserved and pristine from the outside, we wanted the interiors to feel like a jewel box with a sense of history and discovery,” she says. “Everything in the guest room has a historical feel and a sense of provenance, much like the structure itself. When you walk in the room you immediately feel like you could be back in time. It’s pure eye candy.”
Thus, every space is modern—even inside the original cabin, which has been reconfigured as an office and guest room. Skylights draw natural light into the double basement, which houses a lap pool, basketball court, and gym, along with four bedrooms and a living room with a fireplace and billiard table. Linked to the historic structure, a ground-floor addition features a primary bedroom and mudroom, while the top floor’s kitchen and great room look out over Aspen Mountain through floor-to-ceiling windows.
An avid collector of furniture and antiques, Grosfeld approached the interiors much like she does her jewelry. “There’s a lot of crossover,” she says. “I’m definitely not a minimalist. I like to mix colors with texture to highlight the unexpected. When I design, I’m thinking long term and timeless.”
Throughout the home, she layered pieces from some of her favorite designers, including Italian cabinetmaker Giuseppe Rivadossi and modernist French designer Pierre Paulin. One core piece usually drives the narrative of each room. For example, a vintage Karl Springer lacquered parchment dining table and jade-colored Aldo Tura parchment bar trolley anchor the dining and great rooms—a design theme Grosfeld has replicated in all three of her homes (the family also resides in Los Angeles and the East Cape of Baja, Mexico). She jokes that the pieces get a lot more use in Aspen. “I’m much more social here,” she says. “Aspen is the best of both worlds: I can be active outdoors and then have a nice dinner and feel civilized. It’s the perfect combination.”
During wintertime, the great room is the couple’s après-ski ritual: He chases powder in Highland Bowl; she prefers to ski uphill for exercise at Aspen Highlands; and at the end of the day, both convene over cocktails in glassware from Pierre Cardin and Georges Briard.
Grosfeld owns around 40 sets of china and loves creating tablescapes for dinner parties. “Similar to interiors or jewelry, I never have a formula,” she says. “I start with one piece, like a vintage tortoiseshell napkin ring or Limoges porcelain Pinto plate and build a story around it.”
The pageantry of her tablescapes transports guests to a more elegant era, but Grosfeld insists Aspen get-togethers are casual affairs. “The vibe here is low-key luxury,” she says. “I can wear leather pants with clogs during the day and put on a pair of diamond jellyfish earrings to dress up the look for dinner. My home and designs are proof that elegant doesn’t have to be fancy.”