Modern Mountain Cabin in Twin Lakes, Colorado

Nestled in the heart of the Rockies, Ellis Cabin — a modern mountain cabin in Twin Lakes, Colorado — blends thoughtful design with breathtaking views. Built using DEN Outdoors' Modern Alpine Cabin plan, the project is both a personal retreat and a successful Colorado Airbnb cabin rental.

From a basement-level residence to a lofted Airbnb unit, this cabin showcases how smart design and customization can maximize space, comfort, and return on investment in a challenging mountain environment.

See Ellis Cabin's Airbnb page here, and their Instagram here.

1. Why Gray Chose a Colorado Mountain Cabin

Mike: So for folks who are now tuning in to DEN's podcast, we are here with a new person who has built a DEN in a new place. We've spent a bunch of time catching up ahead of this interview, and I think that I found my soulmate across a number of different things.

First of all — he likes blue. The same color blue that I like, and also super ultralight hiking. And has done some pretty long distance treks throughout the globe, which I'm in deep admiration of. So please tell us who you are, where you've built a DEN, and which DEN design did you build?

Gray: Wow, what an intro, man. I'm honored to be here, thanks for having me. My name is Gray Houser. I built a DEN with my father in Twin Lakes, Colorado. And we built the Modern Alpine Cabin.

Mike: Amazing. And tell us a little of the background of this project — because getting to Twin Lakes was a bit of a meandering path. Is that right?

Gray: Yeah, totally. So my dad and I had loved Twin Lakes. We kind of wanted to have some land there. But what got us going on the project to start was my grandfather actually bought five acres of land in South Colorado, close to Fort Garland and the Great Sand Dunes National Park. And when he passed away, he passed that land down to my dad. Me and my dad had gone and camped on the land a number of times. Super raw, in the middle of nowhere. Really quite hard to get to — like a five-and-a-half-hour drive from Denver Airport. So it didn't seem like the best place to build a cabin for us to visit — we're not living full time in Colorado — or for people to be able to Airbnb.

So over a number of years we were looking for the right lot of land, and finally found one with the help of some agents out in Leadville and Twin Lakes. We locked down a couple of acres bordering national forest land, which is lovely. It has a nice little view of the Mosquito Range. And yeah, so we're in Twin Lakes, Colorado now.

Mike: Amazing. And presumably you camped out on the Twin Lakes property a few times before you put shovel to soil?

Gray: Of course. My dad had a pop-up camper that he'd had since I was a kid. He probably got it in, like, 1985, and he still has it. Well — no, he actually just sold it two weeks ago because its purpose had been served for this project. But he drove it out from Atlanta, Georgia, to Twin Lakes, set it up on our property, and lived in that thing for a very long time. Through brutal Twin Lakes winters. We had a day this past January that was, like, negative 8, pure snow everywhere. And he's living in this pop-up camper for a couple weeks at a time out of every month, taking showers outside like a maniac. So yes, we did camp on the property.

Mike: I see where you get your backcountry resilience from. That's amazing. Well — tell us, you're a designer, right?

Gray: Yes.

Mike: And we talked a little about the power of good design. Tell us what attracted you to DEN initially, and to this specific design?

2. Designing a Modern Mountain Cabin with DEN

Gray: Like you said, I'm a brand designer. I initially saw DEN when you guys launched — there was this graphic designer from Berlin who did your initial logo and branding, and I'd seen that on a design blog. So DEN caught my eye far before it was the Instagram-famous architecture account it is now. And I kind of always knew I had this project in the back of my mind, from my granddad having this land. I was like, if one day we were able to do this, we're going to do a DEN build. So I knew from the beginning, given the design-forward approach.

And being a designer, I know the value of design, so I know what it's worth. I know that when people are looking — even if they're not really cognizant of it — a well-designed place is what they'll most often choose if the price isn't too different. So there's personal taste and what I'd want, but also the ROI on something designed well. It was kind of a no-brainer to go with DEN for me.

In terms of the actual plan, we did the Modern Alpine Cabin. There were a lot fewer plans when we started this project. Now there's way more, and I'm like, 'oh man, that one would have been so…'

But we went with that one. I'd wanted to do the A-Frame — I forget which one, but it was the bigger one you had at the time. Our land has a bit of a slope, and I thought the roof going all the way to the ground, sloping down — with us wanting a basement level — just felt awkward with the lay of the land. So we went with the Modern Alpine Cabin that had the flat sides, which could more seamlessly blend into the slope on the property.

Mike: Awesome. The Modern Alpine Cabin has actually been one of our most popular designs, and has birthed an entire Modern Alpine series. We have the Modern Alpine — the one you built — and the recently released Modern Alpine 2025.

Gray: Yeah, yep.

Mike: So you had this really interesting and dramatic topography, and you're telling me you added a whole other level to this design?

Gray: Yes.

Mike: Knowing the floor plan of this building is so intimate — how do you access that second level?

3. Building a Cabin with a Loft and Basement

Gray: Yeah, that's a good question, and we haven't talked about this yet. So, man — that was a freaking process. There were a lot of things we had to be compliant with in the county. It ended up helping us in the end, because to be grandfathered into a short-term rental permit in our county, you have to provide a permanent residence as well.

So the basement floor we built into our DEN is that permanent residence. And the upstairs with the loft — which is from the plans — is the Airbnb unit. But to add that second floor, we had to add stairs. We added a staircase in the back of the cabin that goes down and up from both floors, and we had to enclose it, so we added eight extra feet onto the house to make it longer. That actually made the loft really big, which was awesome — it makes it feel like a living room and an office, and we have the beds in there. It was really great, adding even more space into the loft to fit that staircase into the back of the house.

Mike: Awesome. I was so curious how you guys pulled that off — what a cool workaround to achieve a short-term rental. For folks reading, you'll see images of Gray's Modern Alpine on the post itself, but I'm looking at the photos right now on the Airbnb and the build looks really beautiful, man.

What did you think as you were putting the project together — what was your favorite part? And tell us if there were any challenging parts. Give us your hot take on building this.

4. Overcoming the Challenges of Colorado Cabin Construction

Gray: Man, there are too many challenging parts to mention. My dad would have even more stories than I do, because he was on that side of it more than me.

One of the major things: we ended up going all-electric, which our GC recommended. Then we got to the end and the county was basically saying 'you have to have gas' — and we'd already built in everything. All the other contractors we'd talked to were like, 'you shouldn't do electric in this environment, this is the wrong choice,' blah blah. So that was a challenge, lots of freakouts. We ended up staying all-electric, and it's worked pretty well so far. I'm glad we trusted our GC, who had a lot of experience in our neighborhood.

Another was just getting approvals from the county. There are a lot of affordability issues in the Rockies right now, especially for full-time residents who are locally employed, because of things like Airbnb popping up. So there are a lot of rightful rules around being able to build, and when and where you can. So many things came up that we just had to dig in and honestly get to know the local government. My dad went to different court hearings to get things approved. We were in it.

Another challenge was the staircase. Between the two levels we had to have a fireproof door — a door that's, like, $1,500, and weighs, like, 300 pounds, something insane. There's only one supplier for them in the U.S., I think, and it's in California, so we had to get it shipped. Because we had the two levels, we had to change the door, reframe it — all these extra complexities around having that second floor. But again, we really wanted it, because we wanted two units and we had to have it to do short-term rental. So it was a lot of strings being held very, very carefully. Everything relied on itself.

Mike: Before we started, you told me you were a married man. Is that correct?

Gray: Yes, yes — happily.

Mike: Great, because I try to contextualize the number of dependencies and complexities of building a house to folks interested in DEN. I'm like, 'imagine trying to plan and execute a wedding.'

Gray: Yes.

Mike: There's this term bridezilla — there's all this stuff, because weddings are tricky to pull off. It's the most complicated party you might ever throw. But a house is at least a hundred times more complicated than that.

Gray: A thousand, if you're building in the mountains.

Mike: Just imagine that times 100, and you'll be scratching the surface of what it means.

Gray: Yes.

Mike: I always like disclaimers. I'm like, 'but it's a really rewarding experience.' You get to the end and you're like, 'oh, totally worth it.'

5. Life in a Colorado Airbnb Cabin

Gray: Totally, 100%, man. We won. Me and my wife go out for a couple months every year just to live there and enjoy it.

We love being in the mountains in every season. It gives you so much opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and be active, but also feel grounded and centered. And we've been able to give a lot of attention to detail and care to how we treat guests — being super responsive and understanding. We've gotten really great reviews, and Airbnb even boosted us a little. So it's been really successful that way too. Now we're trying to build out another deck, and we're going to put a hot tub and a sauna on it. The whole thing.

So it's very rewarding. And when I'm there, because I put so much effort into it, it's just the best feeling — it actually being done. And then to share it is another cherry on top: other people get to take part in the thing I was excited about creating. It's priceless. It's awesome.

Mike: For sure. I built my first cabin largely by myself — I did all the plumbing and finishing, a lot of it. At the time DEN was just a twinkle in my eye; I didn't even realize that first project would start this business. I'm the experience-driven person, and I was like, 'well, if I can build a house myself, should I be selling homes?'

But I remember in the middle of that project really hitting a point where I was like, 'did I bite off more than I could chew?' I'm sleeping in a construction pile. There was luckily one hipster hotel down the road where I could get a whiskey. I got to know them so well they'd hook me up with really cheap rooms if no one else had booked them.

And someone at the bar said, 'listen, the project will be done for a lot longer than it took to build.'

Gray: Good perspective. Yeah.

Mike: That one piece of bar-side sage wisdom put so much gas in my tank to get to the finish line. You're just like, 'yeah, I did it!'

Gray: Yep, yeah.

Mike: It's a bucket-list item for most people, right?

Gray: Yep. That's what I mean — when I was a kid, I was like, 'have a cabin in the mountains one day.'

Mike: That you built — that you facilitated the construction of.

Gray: Yeah. I didn't build it with my hands like you, but I was the creative director.

Mike: I relegated myself to being the creative director of DEN — leave the building to the professionals. But that's so cool.

Gray: Yeah man, it's the best.

Mike: So let's dive into the various phases of the project. Was there one that really stuck out as memorable — that imbued you with positivity, where you were like, 'oh man, we're really doing this'?

6. The Rewards of Modern Mountain Living

Gray: I'll say two moments. When the actual frame went up and I could see the shape start to form, I was like, 'oh my God, it's actually happening.' Such a good feeling — even though there was so much work ahead. Honestly two years. It took us a really long time, because the building window is small: snow falls in October and then you're done until May, basically.

And then this past January, when my wife and I went out and it was nearing the finish line. We still had guys in there every day painting and doing final electrical, but I was sleeping in the loft, and my wife and I drove all over Colorado sourcing vintage furniture to furnish the cabin. That was like, 'wow, we're so close, putting the finishing touch on it.'

The cherry on top is actually filling it with things we love that have a story — not just Wayfaired in. We got this from a vintage design freak who's been collecting since the 60s, and now the story continues through us. So filling the space with life at the end was the moment I was like, wow, it happened. The first moment is 'okay, it's happening,' and the end is when it actually happened and we put that final creative touch on it.

Mike: And now it's just enjoyment — barbecues, throwing up the movie projector, whatever it is.

Gray: Yeah, yep.

Mike: So cool. Are there any other personal touches or customizations besides the staircase and the vintage furniture? What do you think is wholly your own?

Gray: Good question. In terms of the build, the main thing we changed was the size and the staircase, so we could have that second floor. We fully built out the basement floor to be its own apartment — its own kitchen, laundry, bathroom. That feels pretty unique compared to what other people have done with this model.

But what feels most unique about our property is the lot itself. It's in this rural neighborhood at the base of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive — the two highest peaks in Colorado, number two and three in the continental US. So it's like the best outside of Whitney in California. You're at the base of the tallest mountains in the country.

Mike: Fun fact: the founder of DEN summited Mount Rainier with an ice climbing expedition. Keep telling the story — I gotta look something up.

Gray: So the setting — we're at the base of these peaks, the trailheads are basically in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is a bunch of dirt roads that feel like national forest roads. There's probably 100 houses in the whole area, really spaced out. Our lot is two acres at the dead end of a road surrounded by national forest, on a slope overlooking the valley. It's just so peaceful, so set apart from everything else, and so close to some of the best hikes in the country. That's what makes it special. The DEN build allowed us to really embrace the land and maximize the landscape.

Mike: You'll appreciate this as a brand person — in the early days of DEN, and to some extent now, I always thought of DEN as an outdoor company, not a building company.

Gray: Yes. I still think about it like that.

Mike: Me too. The cabins are just vehicles to enjoy the outdoors. We're not a construction company. I wobbled from that manifesto a little after we raised $4 million — I was like, 'now we're a company, we're the Death Star of cool modern cabins in North America.' And then I was like, you know what, we should go back to basics: 'get access to the outdoors.'

For the designs we sell, it's not like we're trying to help people build housing at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac — though some developers are now using DENs as urban infill units, which is cool to see. But fundamentally it comes down to the land itself. If you have a beautiful parcel with the right features in the right place — there's so much scarcity around that. You can't get another one of the exact view and land you have.

Gray: Yes, it's true. That's what everybody comments on after they stay: 'the view is amazing!' And that's why we chose the cabin we did — it has all the windows to look out on the view, watch the sunrise, all those things.

And — talk about challenges, I forgot to mention this — where our house sits is totally raw land, so there were no utilities coming through the lot at all. We had to pay a bunch of money to get utilities brought down, like, a quarter mile on our road. We also couldn't dig our own water tanks, so we had to go from community water. That was a whole other challenge. And our road — everybody that came before it was ready was like, 'you're going to try to rent this? You're crazy,' because our road is almost on a cliff. We've done a lot of regrading on it. But again, the belief in this place, the setting, the natural environment, is worth all of it to be able to share and use.

Mike: Well done. And fun fact for our listeners: the delta between the summit and the base of a mountain is its prominence. Mount Rainier actually has the greatest prominence of all continental American mountains.

Gray: I believe it. You can see it from Seattle — it's epic.

Mike: Yeah. But Mount Whitney is the tallest.

Gray: Yes, it sure is.

Mike: Last question. This project sounds incredible — I can't wait to stay there one day. What advice would you give to a friend, family member, or someone listening who wanted to pull off the same type of caper?

Gray: Heck yeah, great question. I'd say, obviously, wait for the right thing and the right lot — you don't want to shortchange that.

Then, once you're in the build and working within a budget, it's probably tighter than you thought, and things are probably more expensive than you thought. Have things you're willing to compromise on. That was something I felt like I was doing every day in the throes of choosing flooring or finishes. Most people pulling this off are working within a budget that isn't endless. So find the things worth the splurge, and the things you can cut costs on that might be half as expensive but still give you pretty much all the experience you wanted. Once you have the lot and the plan and all the big things chosen, be willing to make some compromises to make it feasible for you.

Mike: Lovely thoughts. Don't let perfection stand in the way of progress, as they say.

Gray: Bam. That's a great way to put it.

Mike: Well, on behalf of the entire team at DEN, thank you so much for joining us today, and for sharing the story of this incredible build.

Gray: Thank you so much!