Build story
The Mesa Modern wrap catio
- Location
- Denver Highlands, CO
- Size
- 180 sqft
- Cats
- 2
- Completed
- September 2025
title: "The Mesa Modern wrap catio" location: "Denver Highlands, CO" sizeSqft: 180 catCount: 2 completedDate: "2025-09-05" cover: "/images/examples/mesa-modern-cover.jpg" photos:
- "/images/examples/mesa-modern-detail-1.jpg"
- "/images/examples/mesa-modern-detail-2.jpg" excerpt: "A low-profile steel and cedar catio wrapping a modern desert-influenced home, tuned to the horizontal lines of the great room." featured: true
The brief
A contemporary Denver Highlands home with a floor-to-ceiling glass great-room wall and a deliberate xeriscape yard. Two indoor cats, both bird-watchers, needed an outdoor room that wouldn't break the home's horizontal lines or compete with the view from inside.
What we designed
A 180-square-foot flat-roofed outdoor room that wraps the great-room glass. Matte-black steel tube frame keeps the vertical footprint low, black powder-coated stainless mesh reads as a graphic line against the stucco, cedar plank decking inside. Stepped interior platforms climb up to sun perches without blocking any of the window.
Details worth noting
- Frame powder-coated to match existing window mullions, so the catio visually ties to the house.
- A Corten steel accent panel from the home's exterior extends into the catio's back wall for continuity.
- Cat door integrated into a single replacement glass panel; the installer reused the existing slider track.
The build
Five days on-site. Steel frame arrived pre-welded and powder-coated, mesh panels fabricated off-site. Crew sequenced the decking last so the homeowner kept cat-free interior access through the build.
A month later
Both cats use the high platform at sunset. The owners report that the catio reads from the living room as "part of the house," not an addition. Xeriscape is untouched.
