The Barbi Benton Aspen house is a 27,000-square-foot architectural masterpiece called the Copper Palace, designed by architect Bart Prince between 1989 and 1993. Located in Starwood, the residence features four copper-clad pods cascading down a hillside, with seven floors housing a disco, ballroom, theater, and 47 hand-painted doors.
The Copper Palace stands as one of America’s most unusual celebrity homes. Former Playboy model and singer Barbi Benton worked with Albuquerque architect Bart Prince to create this copper-wrapped wonder in the exclusive Starwood area outside Aspen, Colorado. The home took more than four years to build and represents a marriage between Prince’s sculptural architecture and Benton’s theatrical interior design vision.
The Architecture: Bart Prince’s Vision
Prince designed the structure in 1989 with a unique approach. He created four steel-and-concrete staircase pods that lift the house off the ground, allowing rounded wings to cantilever out like a sculpture viewed from all angles. The entire upper portion uses copper cladding, chosen for its durability and natural aging properties.
The building steps down the hillside at the same angle as the natural slope. This design minimized the footprint on the 40-acre lot while maximizing views across the valley. Prince worked within height restrictions and changing building codes, creating a structure that integrates with the mountainside rather than dominating it.
The copper exterior oxidizes naturally, shifting through bronze, brown, and green tones depending on weather conditions. Prince selected this material because it requires no painting or treatment after installation.
Inside The Copper Palace
The house contains seven floors connected by the four stairwell pods. This layout creates privacy for different areas while maintaining visual flow throughout the 27,000-square-foot space.
Main Living Spaces
The primary living room features curved walls, sofas, and ceilings that create a space-age feel. A band of windows wraps around the curved exterior wall, framing mountain views. Benton designed custom sofas for this half-moon-shaped room, including one that seats 27 people for musical chairs and entertaining.
A 40-foot wall mural based on Toulouse-Lautrec paintings slides away to reveal a ballroom seating 80 for dinner. The same space converts to a dance floor, yoga studio, or karaoke room.
The Two-Story Disco
Adjacent to the living room sits a crystal-themed disco room. Benton sourced real amethyst, quartz, and pyrite from a Phoenix crystal show, then commissioned large fiberglass replicas. She bought equipment from her favorite Hawaiian nightclub when it closed, including a machine that shoots perfect spheres of dry ice.
The crystals form a coral reef effect, marking different dance zones. Benton and Gradow host an annual Christmas party here that serves as the estate’s signature event.
Entertainment and Recreation
The egg-shaped screening room takes design cues from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, but with contemporary styling. Speakers hide inside totem poles, and the color scheme pushes beyond natural tones into surreality.
The home includes two heated lap pools maintained at different temperatures, a gym, massage room, music room, and separate offices. A cloakroom can handle 200 coats when the couple entertains 150 dinner guests.
The Master Bedroom Suite
The master bedroom features a rotating circular bed built on tracks recessed into the floor. The bed was designed to roll onto an outdoor terrace for breakfast in the snow, but the door frame prevented this. It still rotates 360 degrees at the touch of a button.
Tiny lights twinkle from beneath artificial wisteria vines covering the entire ceiling. Benton borrowed this effect from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. The bedroom door opens Flash Gordon-style and displays a replica of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss.
The Barbi Factor: Interior Design
Gradow initially planned to hire professional interior designers. When their first prospect quoted $75,000 just for his fee to design the disco, with all materials extra, Benton took over the entire project.
The 47 Painted Doors
Every interior door features a copy of a famous painting that hints at the room’s function. The men’s room door shows a detail from a Max Ernst work, adjusted so the figure appears to be using the facilities. The women’s room displays Salvador Dalí’s Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized By The Horns Of Her Own Chastity.
The master bedroom door reproduces Klimt’s The Kiss. Benton commissioned nearly 40 artists to complete all 47 doors.
Custom Details Throughout
The handrails consist of Perspex tubes filled with marbles. Fiber-optic lights embed in the plastic resin office desks. When the orbicular granite for Gradow’s bathroom ran two pieces short of completion, Benton contacted previous buyers from the Australian mine to acquire the missing material.
One fountain features wooden ducks parading in front. Another incorporates orthoceras fossils. The elevator’s glass back panel reveals a five-story Mexican-style Jack and the Beanstalk mural.
The living room floor mixes 17 different hardwood types, all cut and numbered in Kentucky before being reassembled on-site like a jigsaw puzzle.
The Background: From Tudor to Space Age
Benton and Gradow originally preferred traditional English Tudor design. Their main Pasadena residence resembled the White House. Benton developed this taste while living at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during her eight-year relationship with Hugh Hefner.
However, the couple also owned the Magic Mushroom on Buttermilk, a 1960s psychedelic property. Benton explains that once you live in an unconventional house, returning to traditional design becomes difficult.
When seeking architects in the late 1980s, Benton requested recommendations for both Tudor and modern designers, “really just to impress our friends.” The modern shortlist came down to John Lautner and Bart Prince. Concerns about Lautner’s age and the high altitude led them to Prince.
Prince initially thought they contacted him by mistake, given their traditional tastes. But when he presented his model, Benton and Gradow committed immediately.
Building The Copper Palace
Construction lasted from 1989 to 1993. The project required navigating geological concerns, height restrictions, and evolving building codes. Prince designed for the steep site first, then accommodated the extensive program requirements.
The wish list included spaces for entertaining 150 people, complete privacy for family areas, dual-temperature swimming pools, three dressing rooms for Benton, and the essential disco for 100 people. These needs drove the final square footage to 27,000 feet spread across seven levels.
Prince’s four-pod structural system allowed the building to grow both vertically and horizontally. This separated living areas and fulfilled the privacy requirement while maintaining an integrated feel.
The Location: Starwood Estate
The Copper Palace sits near the top of Starwood, one of Aspen’s most exclusive neighborhoods. The community gained enough fame that John Denver wrote a song titled “Starwood in Aspen.”
Visitors pass through a manned checkpoint and drive past properties including Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia’s $135 million estate. The Copper Palace occupies a 40-acre lot with views down the valley and across the Rockies.
The location’s altitude and climate influenced Prince’s material choices. Copper performs well in Colorado’s weather, developing a protective patina that prevents further degradation.
Lasting Design Impact
Eighteen years after completion, Benton and Gradow found no reason to redecorate. The finishes remain current despite the home’s 1993 completion date.
Benton notes that most of her design concepts came to her in dreams. She would sketch cardboard models that grew larger as the project progressed. The house evolved organically rather than following a predetermined plan.
The residence appeared on MTV’s Extreme Cribs, showcasing the unconventional living approach. The couple listed the property in 2001 for $25 million, though it remains their primary Aspen residence.
Barbi Benton’s Career and Creative Vision
Benton started modeling at 16 and joined Playboy at 18 while attending UCLA. She appeared on Playboy After Dark as an extra before becoming co-host when Hefner pursued a relationship with her. She appeared on four Playboy covers between 1969 and 1985.
Her music career included 12 years of touring as a singer-songwriter. “Brass Buckles” reached the top five on country charts in 1975. She also appeared on Hee Haw and recorded several albums, achieving particular success in Sweden.
This background in performing arts translated to her interior design approach. Benton describes herself as coming from “the side of the brain that makes people good at music and art.” This artistic sensibility drove every design choice in the Copper Palace.
Why The Copper Palace Matters
The home represents a successful collaboration between architect and client where neither compromised their vision. Prince created a structurally bold, site-responsive exterior. Benton filled it with playful, theatrical interiors that reflect her personality.
Prince’s work follows principles he learned from mentor Bruce Goff. He designs from the inside out, letting the building grow from its site rather than imposing predetermined forms. Each project becomes a portrait of the client responding to all internal and external factors.
The Copper Palace achieves this goal. The copper pods cascading down the hillside feel inevitable rather than imposed. Inside, Benton’s eclectic choices create coherent spaces despite mixing eras, styles, and materials that shouldn’t work together.
Visiting and Viewing
The Copper Palace remains a private residence not open to public tours. The Starwood community maintains security and privacy for all residents. The home has been featured in architectural publications, Wallpaper magazine, and television programs including MTV’s Extreme Cribs.
Those interested in Bart Prince’s architecture can view his own residence in Albuquerque, nicknamed “the spaceship” by his children. His portfolio includes other notable residences throughout the American West.
Conclusion
The Barbi Benton Aspen house stands as a testament to bold architectural vision and fearless interior design. Prince’s copper-clad structure provides the perfect canvas for Benton’s theatrical, eclectic interiors. Together, they created a home that defies categorization while remaining true to both creators’ visions.
The Copper Palace proves that unconventional design choices can create lasting, timeless spaces. Nearly three decades after completion, the home looks as fresh and alive as the day it was finished, a space-age sculpture grounded in the Rocky Mountains.
