Inside Lindsey Vonn's Amazing Mountain Haven: 'I Need a Quiet Place That's Just My Own'

The Olympic ski champion shares inside her cozy abode

It was love at first sight for Lindsey Vonn.

“When I walked in for the first time, I said, ‘This is it! This is my house,” says Vonn, who immediately snapped up the cozy five-bedroom home in Vail, Colorado – the first she’s ever owned – after seeing it two years ago.

With sweeping views of snow-capped peaks and a river below, the light-flooded “mountain contemporary” hideaway tucked into the Gore Range was a no-brainer for the Olympic ski champion.

“Because I’m on the road all the time, I need a place to come home to where I feel really relaxed and cut off from everything,” says Vonn, 32, who considers it something of a Zen respite from the World Cup ski circuit and Olympic training.

“I need a quiet place that’s just my own.”

In addition to a state-of-the-art gym, an elevator and a sound system wired to AirPlay-stream music to every room, one of her other favorite features? A custom-designed doggy door for Bear, Leo and Lucy, whose magnet-equipped collars control a gate and allow the pups to come and go as they please.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my three children,” Vonn says with a laugh.

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In fact, her canine brood often call the shots at bedtime, snuggling under Vonn’s head or vying for space on top of her legs. “There’s really not a lot of room in the bed for me,” she says. “But that’s okay. We make it work!”

Fortunately, the rustic haven that backs up to the White River National Forest provides plenty of peace. “It’s so quiet,” says Vonn.

“At night the sound of the river puts you to sleep.”

For more details on Vonn’s stunning space, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.