By James VanBever,
Westford Museum Volunteer
Aspen, Colorado, architect Charles L Cunniffe’s philosophy on building and designing a home is that “A home is not just shelter from the weather or security from the outside world. The work of architects should enhance the human spirit and create a retreat where people can refresh, re-nourish. And be rejuvenated so they can go out and do good things in the world.”
Charles Lawrence Cunniffe was born on July 21, 1951, in Waltham, Massachusetts to Charles and Jaqueline Cunniffe. The family would move to Westford when Charles was eight years old. The elder Cunniffe was a carpenter by trade. The Cunniffe’s would have eight children which Charles L. was the oldest. The family lived on Patten Road in Westford.
Charles, Jr. attended Westford schools and then Westford Academy where he was a member of the Class of 1969. As a student at WA, Cunniffe was a member of the Drama Club, the WA wrestling team and was the scenery consultant for the Class of 1967’s senior class play “The Miracle Worker”.
As a young boy growing up in Westford, Charles recalled that “My father was a builder, so I was building scale models and later, treehouses and forts.” He also recalled that “In the 8th grade, I declared that I wanted to be an architect”. Cunniffe also recalled that he once made a model of a fantasy house for his parents and even models of famous buildings of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Cunniffe also remembered that early in his architectural career he was able “to be a model maker for the athlete’s village in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. This would be the site of the “Miracle on Ice” when the United States hockey team upset the heavily favored Soviet Union.
After graduating from Westford Academy, Charles began classes at the Rhode Island School of Design where he majored in architecture and minored in sculpture. While in college, “he played drums in several bands, and hung out with soon-to-be famous classmates including fashion designer Nicole Miller and future Talking Heads band members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz. Charles felt that he was heavily influenced by the art environment of the college.
Upon graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design and studying at Harvard, M.I.T., and Brown, Charles began working at a “large local firm designing projects including hospitals, schools, and airports. Even at this early stage of his career, Cunniffe appreciated “the fact you’re helping communities; you’re doing something very worthwhile and beneficial to society.”
While working at the New England company, fellow classmate Tom Wells “invited him out to Aspen, Colorado, to collaborate on the renovation of the historic Hotel Jerome.” Charles accepted the offer and drove out to Aspen, which he thought was a six-month job. He had just started skiing, and figured, “Well it’s in Colorado, so there’s got to be some skiing nearby.”
Cunniffe became influenced by his western environment and impacted by the Colorado mountains. Being a formally trained sculptor and fine artist, Charles found architecture to be perfectly aligned with his interests and the influence of his father, the builder.
Charles’s six months became a year, and he would never return to live in New England. At first, he supported himself by bartending at the Jerome Hotel. During this time, he got “a call from Goldie Hawn, and that led to some work with George Hamilton.” From there, Charles began to attract more “clients and build a strong reputation.” At first, he rented office space from John Denver and would later help him design his own house. The Westford native would launch his own firm, Charles Cunniffe Architects, in 1980.
From its humble beginnings, Charles Cunniffe Architects expanded to seven locations. Charles and his firm “juggled projects across the country and across the globe, gathering honors and awards along the way.” Some of his accolades included numerous awards from “the American Institute of Architects, 2010 firm of the year, and the People’s Choice Award. His company was also featured in top-tier publications such as Architectural Digest, the Wall Street Journal, and Veranda.”
As Cunniffe’s company took off, he took to the skies himself, learning to pilot a plane and flying to client meetings. He juggled projects across the country and around the globe. As of 2019, Charles had visited 147 countries with nine more scheduled Charles believes that “A lot of my passion for design is influenced and informed by global travel” and that “your spirit is touched by other cultures.”
Today, Charles Cunniffe Architects has been downsized to two offices and twenty employees in the Aspen and Carbondale, Colorado, area. The firm is now under new leadership, but the company continues to work on such projects that range from “jaw-dropping residences to affordable housing developments, fire stations, court houses, concert stages, Aspen’s Police Department, and City Hall.”
The company continues to follow Charles’s record of community, philanthropy and pro bono work. It continues to follow its founder’s motto that “if you do something and you put all the time and energy into doing it, and crafting it, then do it right, because you want it to stay around forever”.
Sources:
Oskenhorn, Stewart. Aspen Sojurner, November 2012.
Kolpas, Norman. Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, 2 February 2018.
“WA Dramatic Group Presents Its Play,” Lowell Sun, by Nancy Belida, 30 April 1967, p. 36.
Rawlings, Irene. Mountain Living, 19 April 2019.
Monitor, Cassidy, “Charles Cunniffe Architect.” Western Home Journal.