Paul Cathers is an iconic designer, with a career that began in fashion, evolved to interior design, and now includes a one-of-a-kind design center and showroom with curated furniture and custom interior offerings. It’s the kind of place where professional designers and homeowners alike can come and browse for inspiration and find the balance of styles that speaks to them.
Throughout Paul’s career, he’s lived in Milan, New York, and other bustling cities. But the draw of the Roaring Fork Valley led him to put roots down in Basalt, a small yet sophisticated area.
Those roots took shape in the form of his award-winning custom home, built in partnership with Maley Building Corporation.
This build is special for a few reasons — the awards, the lifestyle magazine features, the blend of modern and mountain style — but most importantly, it’s the result of a long-standing working relationship and friendship between Paul Cathers and Patrick Maley.
This partnership allowed for freedom of expression, creativity, and an uninhibited collaborative process that delivered exceptional results. Here’s how the process played out.
Assembling the Build Team
To build his dream home, Paul worked with a Pittsburgh-based architect for the design and Maley Building Corporation for the build. But this wasn’t any client engagement for us — we’ve been friends with Paul for a long time, and bringing his dream home to life was one of our most satisfying projects to date.
Paul’s design philosophy revolves around two seemingly contradictory ideas: first, less is more. Second, spaces that make a statement. The way he marries these concepts is not by adding a singular statement piece, but by creating a cohesive space that uses color, texture, and thoughtful details to evoke a sense of comfort and wonder.
With this in mind, Paul assembled a build team that would understand his ethos and buy into his unique perspective.
For the design, he selected Aimee Conrardy of Axis Productions, who had a fresh and modern take that also prioritized a connection to the stunning scenery, including a view of Mount Sopris and the old Basalt mining town.
For building, it was only natural that Patrick Maley and Paul would work together. With our creative solutions, innovative approach, and tailored process, we knew we could make Paul’s vision come to life.
Here at Maley Building Corporation, we always recommend assembling your build team early and bringing your builder in at the design phase. This makes the entire process smooth and allows for a high level of collaboration.
As an experienced designer, Paul knew that collaboration and early communication were the best way to get the ideal results he wanted, and magazines like Colorado Homes & Lifestyle agree.
Bringing Creativity into the Process
As the build progressed, Paul and Patrick were partners in creativity — which, for this home, felt a lot like being partners in crime. And it was truly the trusted partnership that led to the development of this dream home — a beginning of creativity and realism that helped refine ideas and bring them to life.
“Both of us can shoot from the hip,” said Paul about the pair’s ability to dream up creative ideas and find a way to make them a reality. “[My ideas] may not make sense, but [Patrick’s] creativity and being able to value-engineer different aspects of the home [was always the goal].”
The combination of big ideas and visionary design from Paul, combined with Patrick’s perspective on real-world constructability, helped refine nebulous ideas into buildable elements. Instead of saying “no, that’s not in the budget,” we said, “How can we make that work?” This is the kind of creativity and collaboration that can only happen when you have a strong team assembled from the beginning — but also when you work with someone you really trust.
Collaboration Above All Else
Any contractor can build a custom home — but to create a unique space that reflects its occupants, it takes a team with special chemistry. We are lucky to have worked with Paul before and have a long-term friendship, which helped us understand his unique perspective on home design.
Paul wants to think outside of the box and take risks to create a space that’s both exciting and relaxing as soon as you walk through the door. As a designer himself, he has high standards and a clear vision. We helped translate that vision into something feasible, constructible, and tangible at the end of the process.
Assembling the team early helped build a collaboration with respect and trust — making the project run smoothly and allowing room for adjustment when needed. On the process of working together, Paul says that working with Patrick helps him think before he jumps.
Paul says he knew what he wanted as far as the architecture and exterior, but Patrick helped refine seemingly “crazy” ideas — for instance, a lap pool on the deck. While it was technically feasible, Patrick helped break down the positives and negatives and ensured the space stayed true to the intention: straightforward, light-filled, and designed to create a thoughtful statement.
The Results of Long-Term Teamwork
Paul’s custom home is a modern structure, but with its clean lines and neutral exterior, it blends into the mountain scenery harmoniously.
Inside, the home is artistic and organic, while maintaining the modern style on the outside. The open and simplistic design provides a sense of peace and comfort, while still being functional for daily life or entertaining.
The sleek and minimalist design, with tonal high-end finishes, is contrasted with wall murals, custom wallpaper, and an eclectic, handpicked art collection. The home also features large-scale windows, bringing the mountain views of the Aspen Valley into the heart of the home.
Beyond Paul’s custom home, we’ve collaborated on multiple projects. Another highlight was this rental property, a duplex that carefully blends modern design with the mountain-inspired natural materials. Furnished with a curated collection, studded with interesting art, and punctuated with pops of color, this rental is a dynamic space and contemporary haven.
Our history of teamwork has led to big results — whether it’s a statement-making custom home or a mountain rental with accessible, comfortable, and elevated design. Everything we do is focused on bringing the community feel of Basalt into the homes and buildings we work on.
Achieving Collaboration for Every Build
Not every build can start a collaboration between friends — but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the same standard of results. Our projects are built on trust and mutual respect, and once we work together, we’ll count you as part of the Maley Building Corporation family for life.
We prioritize communication and teamwork here at Maley Building Corporation, and customize our process to meet our clients’ needs. Whether that’s moving heaven and earth to finish a build in time for a wedding, sourcing reclaimed wood for the perfect rustic-modern retreat, or taking on the whole process so you don’t have to lift a finger, we are up for the challenge.
Learn more about designing a luxury modern mountain home with Maley Building Corporation or stop by Cathers Home’s Showroom in Basalt.
