Can the architecture and interior design of a house subtly reflect the music of Philip Glass, a minimalist composer who's much admired by the homeowner?

If so, that house is on a quiet cul-de-sac on south Boulder's Shanahan Ridge and belongs to Trish Morphew-Lewis and her husband, John Lewis, collectors of modern art and furniture, admirers of architecture and Philip Glass, and wine connoisseurs.

When they first saw their 5,000-square-foot, three-level home, built in 1974 as a production home, it was replete with exposed solid-timber beams and 7-foot head heights, a sunken living room and low windows that obscured any connection to the site. An extensive renovation has remedied this, artfully connecting the house to the adjoining city open space.

Retired from executive management careers in health care, the Lewises moved to a suburban Boulder neighborhood from St. Louis eight years ago and wanted to live closer to nature. When local Realtor Karen Bernardi showed them the Shanahan Ridge house, they were skeptical.

"It had nice lines, but it was dark and the rooms were chopped up - not our style," Trish says. "We like space but not clutter. Karen advised us to take another look, and I saw that the house could be opened up."

Wondering whether their ideas for the house could be implemented, the Lewises called on Richard Sands, president of Hammerwell Inc., a Boulder-based home builder, and EJ Meade, principal of Arch 11 Inc., an architectural firm with offices in Boulder and Denver. Both men assured the couple that the project was feasible.

What excited Meade initially was the Lewises' collection of modern artwork and furnishings, such as a Le Corbusier chaise longue and a set of chairs designed by Finnish architect-designer Alvar Aalto.

"We realized the renovation was a good fit for us architecturally," he says. "The house itself was well-sited, with magnificent horizons to the east and south and the Flatirons to the west, but it failed to take advantage of the site. Our strategy was to think of windows not as holes in walls but as walls of glass framing the view."

The main floor was decompartmentalized by filling in the floor of the sunken living room, replacing the dated shed roof with a raised flat roof (increasing ceiling height to nearly 16 feet), bringing glass windows to the ceiling and replacing timber beams with concealed steel beams.

Thus was created a two-story volume with a sense of overlapping spaces, Meade says. The result is a "living cube" with two glass walls and a contiguous cooking, dining, living and family room that draws the outside into the home.

"Trish had seen a Venetian plaster wall in another Hammerwell/ Arch 11 house, and we asked Rich and EJ for that," John says. "They applied it on a living-room wall, and it's so spectacular that it's become an art wall in and of itself."

A painting by Italian artist Andrea Vizzini, the Aalto chairs and a George Nelson bench add to the classic-modern ambience of the space. A small office adjacent to the living room, the only formally distinct space on the main level, serves as a quiet retreat.

The open flow suits the Lewises' penchant for entertaining, which frequently involves serving French and Italian wines from John's 1,400- bottle cellar on the lower level.

"What wine has taught me is the importance of slow time, and this house is perfect for spending three hours at the dinner table," John says. "Formal dining rooms obstruct the good times you are trying to have. Our space is a place to drink great wines and feel comfortable in jeans."

In the kitchen, ash woodworking by Michael Brotherton of Boulder, who did all the case work and cabinetry in the house, is juxtaposed with smoothed black concrete countertops and a blue limestone floor. A cooking island with seating on one side lets Trish have company while she cooks for guests.

The original enclosed wood staircase to the master bedroom was replaced with a steel chassis and railing, with bamboo handrails, treads and landing. The landing boards are spaced to lend a "boat deck" detail, adding to the stairway's porosity and creating translucency.

"EJ mentioned early on that our bedroom could be designed like a California sleeping porch," John says, "and I reminded him of that. He and Rich took our ideas further and better than we ever could."

The master bedroom's large windows extend up to frame the ridge of the Flatirons beyond. A transom marks the door to a small balcony, perfect for stargazing. Skylights and a contemplative sitting area with the Le Corbusier chaise complete the room.

In the master bath, Italian quartz countertops, subtler than granite, cap a floating vanity with two porcelain vessels.

"By replacing all the windows with thermally broken commercial aluminum-frame windows, reinforcing the structure and exterior, we extended the life of the house and made it more open to the outdoors while making it more energy-efficient," Meade says. "We recessed the hot-water baseboards into the floor, and we used a high- tech air-conditioning system without the need for centralized ducts."

The street faade of the Lewises' house is wood, chosen to comply with the homeowners' association requirement. The rear exterior was re-clad in a combination of traditional hard-coat stucco and zinc, Meade says. "That way, we were able to weave a modern language into this '70s house without creating disparity between dance partners on the street."

Almost every spot in the house has a view, John says. "From outside our front door, you can see right through the house to the trees in back. I can see Devil's Thumb and Eldorado Canyon off the back porch, as well as the line of a train in the distance.

"There isn't a day that goes by that one of us doesn't say, 'I love being in this space.' "

The details

• What: three-level wood, stucco and zinc house

• Where: Shanahan Ridge neighborhood of south Boulder

• Built: 1974

• Owners: Trish Morphew-Lewis and John Lewis

• Size: 5,000 square feet

• Architect: EJ Meade, Arch 11 Inc.

• Builder: Richard Sands, Hammerwell Inc.

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