Artist Ania Milo Transforms Ute Pass Airbnb with Used and Refurbished Finds, Original Artwork | Mail from Pikes Peak

A gallery of Ania Milo’s art, At the Barn, an Artist Mountain Retreat, is a reflection of the creativity of one woman who more or less blew into the area unannounced.

She arrived from Baltimore, Maryland, after 20 years working in national security for the federal government. On the side, she completely remodeled and designed the interior of her townhouse in this city.

Milo is instantly recognizable as she drives through Woodland Park in her vehicle embellished with multicolored geometric shapes, in blues, purples, yellows and greens. He’s a regular at the Goodwill store.

The mountain retreat on Ute Pass, now registered with Airbnb, is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home whose interior showcases Milo’s design ingenuity.

“The house had the basics, the plumbing, the electricity, but everything was brown,” she said with a smile. “I had to go under the house to reconnect the plumbing.”

With his eye for bargains that others might not “catch”, Milo turned pieces into something interesting, even exciting. It goes for the character, the possibilities.

A railroad artifact, engraved with the word “Porter”, hangs above the fireplace in the living room. “I got it for $35,” she said. “Everything except appliances and mattresses came from the Re-Store, Goodwill or Facebook.”

For example, the $4,000 Italian leather white sofa, now hushed orange, that she scavenged for free from a woman who wanted to get rid of it. “Every piece of furniture here, I redid it,” she said.

The dining room table, another free find, which she accented with diagonal stripes and matched the chairs, which she picked up for $5 apiece. “It looks like a set, doesn’t it?” she said.

While the kitchen had cabinets, they were not up to Milo standards. She has refurbished each one to become part of her art gallery.

The rooms she named for the colors, blue, green and purple, each embellished with an original painting by Milo for the art accessory. The bathroom tiles, which she laid herself, match the design and color palette of each room.

Milo bought the property, 1.5 acres on the border or Pike National Forest, last year. The house is adjacent to the barn where she lives on the upper level, with her art studio below.

“I will provide people with experiences, hiking, art lessons, sledding, kayaking and motorized boarding on the Catamount Reservoir,” she said.

In early December, Milo honored the historical and cultural heritage of Ute Pass with a Native American blessing ceremony by Jon Zimmer, Walks Alone with Many Friends.

After the ceremony, she welcomed her friends with a housewarming party to share her art gallery. “It was a lot of work. I really didn’t have a life for eight months,” she said. “Now I’m watching it, AHHH! I did it. It’s very satisfying.