Located in downtown Aspen, MOLLIE Aspen is a new 68-room boutique hotel with an understated luxury that takes its cues from the town’s historic ties to the Bauhaus movement. In what is collaboration between Colorado practice CCY Architects and Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary design firm Post Company, who are responsible for both the interiors and graphic identity, the hotel’s design is rooted in simplicity and utility as much as materiality and craftsmanship. Reflecting Aspen’s cultural heritage, a vernacular soulfulness pervades the Bauhaus-inspired interiors thanks to the use of natural woods, earthen ceramics and hand-dyed textiles. Part peaceful retreat, part vibrant communal hub, MOLLIE’s relaxed guest rooms are complemented by convivial public spaces — namely a lobby bar and restaurant with year-round outdoor seating, a laid-back all-day café, and a rooftop pool and terrace which becomes an intimate lounge by night — designed to bring people together, just like Mollie Gibson, a 19th century local figure known for her restless enthusiasm for the outdoors which the hotel takes its name from.

The hotel is nestled between two distinct districts, Aspen’s commercial core and the historic West End, a predominantly residential area dotted with 19th century Victorian homes. CCY’s design responds to the liminal setting by using brick for the ground floor and wood for the upper floors, the former a nod to the town’s commercial buildings, the latter to the town’s residential properties. The brickwork’s dark hue echoes the rocky landscape of the surrounding Elk Mountains while the random widths of the vertical wood cladding emulate the slender rhythm of the forests that pepper the region. Although the hotel’s footprint is relatively small, the architects broke down the building mass into smaller cubic volumes that rhythmically jut out in line with Aspen’s historic lot widths with tall windows echoing the proportional fenestration of the Victorian housing stock.

For the hotel’s interiors, Post Company filtered a Bauhaus-inspired geometric language of simple lines, rectilinear forms and grids through a lens of contemporary Scandinavian and Japanese design, with natural materials sourced from Aspen and the western USA adding vernacular hints. White oak, terracotta and sand-casted brass, the latter used for lighting fixtures throughout the premises, comprise a rich tapestry of textures that evokes in combination with a palette of earthy hues the rugged natural landscape. Further design highlights include the curvilinear reception desk sculpturally clad in burl wood, the bar area which brings together geometric sculptural concrete panels and elegant millwork, and the third-floor lounge where rugged terracotta tiling speaks to the town’s foundational history of mining, which include the Mollie Gibson silver mine, also named after the hotel’s namesake.

Taking a page from Bauhaus artist and architect Herbert Bayer, one of Aspen's most famous residents and an advocate of the integration of all arts, an eclectic collection of textiles, sculptures and paintings by contemporary artists such as Landon Metz, Ethan Cook and Rachel Snack is seamlessly integrated throughout the public spaces, restaurants and rooms. Rachel Snack’s large woven installation hanging in the lobby, a custom-made, hand-dyed tapestry inspired by 20th century abstractionists painter Agnes Martin and weaver Anni Albers, also sets the tone as well as serves as a template for branding across the hotel.

Natural wood accents, hand-dyed textiles in earth tones and ceramics continue in the guestrooms imbuing a sense of coziness, while large windows allow guests to enjoy the hotel's beautiful surroundings. Nature is after all Aspen’s most enduring and precious asset, and MOLLIE, like its namesake adventurer, is all about basking in its beauty.