Living Beneath the Colorado Peaks: The Story of Knapp Ranch

A Vision of Architectural Design and Land Stewardship

Living Beneath the Colorado Peaks takes the reader on a journey of discovery, from finding the perfect piece of land to achieving a vision that provides a model for utilizing the existing natural systems to design and craft a model of integrative, creative, and responsible land use in the American West.

With vision, patience and devotion to excellence, the book follows the journey of Bud and Betsy Knapp to rehabilitate a landscape fatigued by neglect. Built on the bedrock of sustainability and thoughtful stewardship, the Ranch, located at 9,000 feet in Colorado’s Vail Valley is thriving; an inspiration and successful example of land management best practices.

Betsy and Bud Knapp, original owners and former publishers of Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit magazines, are innovators, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs. Writer and landscape architect Sarah Chase Shaw is the author of two residential landscape architecture books. Todd Winslow Pierce is a photographer based in Vail, Colorado.