South Oak Street Restaurant
Located within Telluride's central Historic District, the restaurant at 221 South Oak Street offers guests an intimate setting and warm atmosphere in a converted former residence.
The existing historic building had been listed as a Contributing Structure, supporting Telluride’s designation as a National Historic District in 1961. Two extensively deteriorated additions were removed, but the exterior of the original house was maintained. The scale and character of the new addition were designed to read as a secondary addition to the original house and to be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
The house was moved temporarily to allow the construction of a new foundation and basement space for food preparation and storage. The two-story addition is separated from the house by a narrow connecting element that clearly distinguishes it from the original historic structure.
At ground level, the addition opens out onto a south-facing porch and landscaped garden designed for outdoor dining. The upper level of the addition includes a small residential unit for employee housing.
Exterior finish materials for the addition were chosen to contrast those on the original house, borrowing instead from the examples of sheds and outbuildings in the Historic District.
Location: Telluride, Colorado
General Contractor: Croke Construction
Structural Engineering: Buckhorn Geotech
Landscape Consulting: Susan Maybach