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Nestled among the willow-lined banks of the South Platte River, the Buffalo Peaks Ranch in Park County, Colorado has witnessed many chapters of human history.

Over the past few centuries, the land changed hands repeatedly from the traditional territories of indigenous communities to the invasion of miners and settlers; from an immigrant family’s homestead to a thriving livestock operation; from a bustling railroad hub to a .

Today, the ranch is relatively quiet—perfect, some might say, for a library. 

Established as a non-profit in 1986, the Rocky Mountain Land Library (RMLL) is a network of land-study centers located along the banks of the South Platte River, from the headwaters of South Park to the metro-Denver plains. What began as a personal collection has expanded to a library of over fifty thousand volumes of literature from across the world. The curated collection includes everything from wildlife sketches to cowboy novels to western historical accounts, with a predominant focus on the natural history, landscape and communities of the Rocky Mountain region. 

With the help of students from the intermediate architecture Rocky Mountain Land Library studio, taught and led by Teaching Professor Marianne Holbert, a portion of this extensive collection may find its home somewhere in the scattered and semi-structurally sound buildings and barns of the Buffalo Peaks Ranch. 

The ranch, however, strives to be more than just a 9,200-foot-high library. According to its , development on the site, which was leased to RMLL by the City of Aurora and Park County to preserve its historic integrity, aims to produce a residential library back home in Colorado, one that celebrates people, land and nature. A place where people could learn from both the books, and the surrounding lands. 

This means providing ample housing for visiting artists, opening field sites for researchers, creating shared spaces for classes and community workshops and integrating multiple library nooks scattered throughout. To help restore existing buildings for adaptive reuse and expand facilities with respect to the natural landscape, RMLL leadership turned to consulting teams, including ENVD architecture students. 

“It was so much different from any other project we've had,” Andy McMahon (ENVD’25) explained. “The site was massive, and it was very much historically rooted. You’d see a fence and they're like, ‘oh, that fence has been there a hundred years.’ It was pretty daunting.”

Out on the ranch, students engaged in extensive site analysis work, wandering the uneven trails, weaving in and out of corrals and taking in the expansive views of the Rockies. They noted environmental conditions and potential climate-related hazards, deepened their understanding of the land’s history, and identified the specific needs and potential of the site. The course culminated in proposals that reflected students’ interests and personal connections to the site.

Kinsey Anger (ENVD’25), another student from the course, took the opportunity to reimagine the cement horse corrals into a wellness retreat supplementing the library, complete with reading rooms and artistic programming. 

“Some of the themes for my design were based in indigenous history. I looked at the Ute tribe that occupied the land first, so I used cultural ideas of circular systems in connection with the land and land as a medicine,” she said. “I programmed the horse barn to be a wellness cafe where they could use plants that have been historically prevalent on the site. A bear root latte for example.”

McMahon’s proposal took a more direct approach. His plan was focused around developing the lambing barn cluster into a co-working space and library expansion. He emphasized connecting themes of cross-pollination, community and land appreciation. “The landscape is so apparent there. Really connecting the building with the land in terms of views, capturing an indoor-outdoor feel, but also using natural materials,” he said. “I used stone and mass timber to make it feel like it was blended into the landscape.”

The students shared that retrofitting a remote, weather-impacted and mostly decrepit cluster of structures came with its own unique set of challenges. While the RMLL has invested more than $100,000 in stabilization and restoration of three existing buildings, the dream of a residential learning library has a long way to go.

“The site was pretty worn down. The lambing barn that I was working around, we couldn't even go in because it wasn't structurally stable. You're trying to place a building basically on a blank canvas,” McMahon said.

However, the challenges provided the future designers with practical experience, something that’s often hard to find within the confines of a classroom. They expressed how the complexities of the site encouraged them to think more holistically and intentionally about all aspects of their designs. 

"It was kind of like a simulation into real life design,” Anger said. “I'm really glad for this trial run.”

While it’s unlikely that the Rocky Mountain Land Library will be able to implement the exact floor plans of the students’ designs at the Buffalo Peaks Ranch, the ideas and perspectives shared between the students and RMLL stakeholders marks an important step in shaping its next chapter.