Crest House, Organic architecture structure in Colorado, US

Crest House is a ruined building at the summit of Mount Blue Sky, Colorado, consisting of cast concrete walls and outer stonework. Four stone arches that once framed the main entrance still stand, and the star-shaped foundation of the former two-story glass and steel platform remains visible on the observation deck.

Carpenter Justus "Gus" Roehling, a German immigrant, conceived the building after visiting the mountain in the 1920s. With funding from Thayer Tutt and Quigg Newton, and a design by architect Edwin A. Francis, ground was broken in spring 1940. Winter forced the crew to abandon the unfinished structure; returning in 1941, they repaired storm damage and completed it that fall. The U.S. Forest Service took ownership in 1969, and a propane fire destroyed most of the building on 1 September 1979.

Crest House took its name from its perch on the summit, and its fried doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate became what travellers remembered. Denver-area college students on summer break staffed it and slept in bunks at the rear. The star-shaped foundation of the glass platform can still be traced on the observation deck.

The house sits on elevated ground in the Rocky Mountains and can be visited in different weather conditions. Visitors should prepare for mountainous terrain and variable conditions.

The star-shaped foundation of the two-story glass and steel platform is still visible on the observation deck today. The four stone arches that framed the main entrance also survive, faced with native stone so the building was hard to spot from a distance.