Tiny homes, an apartment building and a boarding house make up the Virginia Placer development, which Charles Cunniffe Architects has designed for a Rocky Mountain community in Colorado with a dearth of low-cost housing.
The Virginia Placer development is located in Telluride, a popular resort town ringed by forests and snow-capped peaks. Funded by the local government, the project was conceived in response to the area's shortage of affordable housing.

While hotel rooms and expensive vacation homes are plentiful, Telluride ? like other Colorado resort towns ? lacks housing options for low- to moderate-income residents.
Workers at ski parks, restaurants, shops and other tourist-oriented venues are often forced to live far outside of town, where costs are lower.
Designed by Aspen firm Charles Cunniffe Architects (CCA), the Virginia Placer development ? named after an historic land owner and a mining term ? consists of two buildings and three tiny homes, all situated along a small road just outside of Telluride's central village.
One building serves as a boarding house with beds for 46 tenants, while the other contains 18 traditional apartments. The standalone micro homes each have a single room with a sleeping loft. All tenants are provided storage lockers for ski gear.

Situated at the base of a mountain, the buildings rise up from slender parcels that line a curving road. The apartment building and boarding house ? both three storeys ? have a similar aesthetic.
For t...