Search Results for: elements of architecture

Trust braided together every aspect of this standout residence in Shooting Star: the clients’ trust in the crew, assembled by interior designer Jacque Jenkins-Stireman, and the trust among team members as they confronted site-specific challenges with creativity, reimagining traditional elements through contemporary treatments. Woven together, these strands of trust made anything and everything possible within the amiable yet ambitious family home.

The project rose from the working foundation laid during the clients’ first commission of Jenkins-Stireman’s boutique firm: a cabin within the same development, renovated to suit their large clan. Thrilled with that first foray, the family engaged Jenkins-Stireman in their search for a new homesite. With a lot secured, they charged her with assembling a team of Berlin Architects and Two Ocean Builders.

“I was their emissary,” she says. “They were clear in their objectives, not directive about the outcome. They knew how they wanted to use the house, how they wanted to live. It was a seamless conversation that started with the clients telling me to explore my wildest dreams: ‘You know what we love,’ they said. ‘Live it out.’”

This invitation to dream—most often issued to, not from, clients—empowered the team to envision fresh adaptations to the distinctive site. Crescent-shaped and shallow, the lot is bordered by creeks, which offer a feeling of remoteness amid the residential development. Also a boon: abundant views in all directions—of the Teton foothills, across the valley to Sleeping Indian, and through the willows to Fish Creek. Jenkins-Stireman thrived in the face of the site’s strictures. Solutions became features, like the fire wall encircling the front fac?ade, screening the parking court.

“That’s the fun of it all,” says architect Larry Berlin, “having a challenging site with great views and great light, as well as privacy, water and trees—and then designing the house to be part of the site.”

At every turn, the team considered the clients’ extended family. Take the bunk room above the garage—an expansive space that could have assumed utilitarian traits. Instead, the vaulted area exudes play, with two sets of triple-high bunk beds facing a wide sectional sofa, snack bar and custom foosball and pool tables. Each niche serves as its own bedroom replete with shelving, lights and outlets. Dormer windows flood the playroom with light. Oak paneling sheathes the walls and ceiling, creating a clean, continuous embrace.

The adults have their own special “play” space. Winemakers and connoisseurs, the clients wanted a bar that felt both cozy and commodious. Thus inspired, the team brainstormed, building on a design idea of a classic gentleman’s lounge. A hybrid haunt took shape, spacious enough for a large wine tasting yet still intimate enough for two. Every element is custom, down to the refrigerated cabinets cooling the varietals—meticulous details that meld into an overall ambiance of gracious hospitality, reflective of the owners themselves, Jenkins-Stireman says.

Epitomizing the family ethos, the kitchen welcomes all with its warm blue cabinetry, wide island and upholstered stools. It opens onto adjoining casual dining and family rooms. In an elegant twist on the classic china cabinet, a built-in steel case displays a ceramic serving collection under soft spotlights, simultaneously evoking an art gallery, farmhouse pantry and the casements of the surrounding windows.

Showcasing the views throughout the house became paramount, particularly in the front hall, which could have taken on grandiose proportions considering the scale of the house at six bedrooms and bathrooms (plus two half-baths). A typecast formal entry would have detracted from the mountain sightline, so the team created an intimate but elaborate vestibule defined by exquisite juxtapositions of materials: a steel door accented by glass, opening onto a beloved piece of art. Set to the side of the house, the foyer greets visitors with a view corridor of the Tetons framed by interior glass walls.

Modern pairings of materials continue throughout the interior. Brombal windows—minimalist steel-framed panes from Italy—set an Old World-meets-contemporary tone. “They allowed the rest of the architecture to shine,” Jenkins-Stireman says. Inventive interpretations of traditional treatments abound. Instead of rote barnwood paneling, white oak was milled to perfection, and plaster takes on sleek effect sans trim or baseboards. Organic accents—pendant clusters custom-made by a New York artist—transform stairwells into sculptural passages, replete with floating treads. Even the mudroom suggests singularity with a real, forest-perfumed birch veneer.

A dining terrace extends the great room, nearly doubling the expanse. And a second deck does the same to the kitchen and family room, allowing for casual grilling and indoor/outdoor living. In a final stroke of knife-edge genius, an outdoor shower strikes the delicate balance between feeling both open to nature and private, by way of stone-and-slatted walls. Hot tubs and fire pits, attached to suites, make for quiet moments in situ.

“We are always exploring ways in which finish materials can interact,” says Sam Sehnert, of Two Ocean Builders. “Those details take a collaborative effort to work through successfully, and we had an outstanding team to do that on this project. The owners played a key role as well by encouraging us to explore unique solutions in design and assembly.” A dream come true from every exquisite angle, including the perspective of every party involved.

This quote resonated with me as I stood with Rush Jenkins, CEO and principal designer for WRJ Design, in the entranceway of this award-winning Jackson Hole home he designed recently. He pointed out the half-seen, half-hidden elements of the architect’s lines and angles, and noted how the earth tones in the Elizabeth Eakins floor covering subtly called out the textures and pitch of the reclaimed timber.

For lines, there was the simple geometry of Mountain Hardware’s chandelier echoing the trim in the glass doors beyond, and the crisp contours of the midcentury furniture balanced by the streamlined, upholstered bench. And there hung one of the owner’s paintings capturing all of these elements combined.

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.
– Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist

“One of the lessons I learned at Sotheby’s,” Jenkins recounted, “is that paintings always have a way of finding their place.”

We had not yet moved beyond the entranceway, and already there was enough to appreciate about the art of Rush Jenkins. He was, indeed, thoughtful, with a sound eye for the narrative of the home as the owners and architects had meant it, which is when the word “intrigue” first entered our conversation.

JLF Architects/JLF Design Build had used steel, stone and timber to layer this house high up on a vista-rich butte between Jackson and Wilson. They had done so in a way that the rooms appear to have been built sequentially, as if they were the chapters of a fantastic novel about the life of a family, unfolding gradually and surprising at every turn.

It occurred to me that not only is the designing of a home very much like the telling of a story, but that in every design—every creation—is revealed the thread of the designer.

AN ARTIST FINDING HIS PLACE

Raised on an Idaho farm with views of the Tetons, Jenkins studied landscape architecture in California and then moved abroad for studies in the Fine and Decorative Works of Art graduate courses at Sotheby’s London. Eventually, he became the first-ever director of design at Sotheby’s New York, before “returning home” to Jackson Hole with his partner, Klaus Baer, to found WRJ Design.

Jenkins tells stories, good ones about how his styling of a collection for Cher led to his designing the exhibition for Nancy Reagan at the Reagan Library; of interviewing with the former first lady’s board members, including Merv Griffin and the advisor to Prince Charles. These stories become one story of an artist with many talents and interests, woven from a deeply curious, creative mind and drawn from the well of experiences and terrain.

Nature is a major source of inspiration to Jenkins. “The natural surroundings and authenticity of where I grew up had a great impact on my desire to return to the West,” he says. “Open spaces, rugged terrain, majestic mountains feed my soul.”

Open spaces, rugged terrain, majestic mountains feed my soul.
– Rush jenkins

In fact, WRJ created its own word for this relationship with nature—a very telling, brilliant word—and used it as the title of its statement publication:

INTERROIR

1. The combination of environmental elements—soil, land, sky, climate, light, terrain, texture, fibers, altitude, palette—that imbues a specific object, material or space with distinctive character
2. The imprint of nature upon interior design
3. The signature approach of WRJ Design

Drawing the outside in

That afternoon, interroir is what I saw: line and form and color in harmony with nature. Paul Bertelli, design principal at JLF, had conspired with the owners to follow the lines of the landscape and defer to nature. It made sense that Jenkins would identify with this philosophy.

“The philosophy and work of JLF is something that resonates deeply with me,” he says. “We have a similar approach to understanding context and place and using natural materials in the design of our clients’ homes. Their homes have a deep authenticity and soul that feel like they’ve enveloped the lives of many generations.”

And here was the brilliance of Jenkins. As we walked the rooms, I saw again and again the wisdom of his choices. Instead of out-muscling the heaviness of the stone, steel and timber with big shapes and colors, he saw the need for light, cream tones and simplicity of pattern. With a plein air painter’s eye for the distant, muted colors of the far-off mountain ranges and horizon, he sought softness and clean, soothing lines. In the white linen drapes that embraced the sunlight in every room, and in the light blues and grays of the floor coverings that drew from the clouds and sky, his intentions were clear: Allow the mind’s eye to rest. Establish harmony. Create a sanctuary.

WHEN THE JOURNEY BECOMES A HOME

In the end, by Jenkins recognizing the lines and palette of the journey already established, the shared beliefs about what this home could be were interwoven with the memories and moments of what it did become.

It began with the owner’s love of midcentury furniture and a dream of building a home in the mountains of Wyoming. It continued with Bertelli wandering the butte with fellow architect Ashley Sullivan and landscape architect Jim Verdone one summer day, seeking a site for the home and happening upon a little meadow of wildflowers. Those flowers became the owner’s sanctuary and the anchor for the whole project.

And then there was Jenkins’ meeting with the owner in New York City. Though he was not originally slated to join this journey, Bertelli and Sullivan thought the owner should meet him.

Says Bertelli, “The thing about Rush is, every time we work with him, the project turns out great. He has an innate ability to see what we’re trying to accomplish. He gets it. I really think of him as a part of the team.”

An enormous amount of site work and collaboration went into transforming this piece of forested land in Wilson into a stately stone manor. The metamorphosis was completed just in time for its unveiling on the day of the total solar eclipse in August 2017.

“We scrambled at the end because we had visitors, but we had so much fun working together,” says the wife of a retired couple who owns the house. She designed and built six homes for her family before she got it right. “It took three and a half years to plan this one and we are still really good friends with everyone who helped build it.”

The team, including Dallas-based building designer Michael Remsik, local homebuilder CC Builders, Willow Creek Woodworks and MD Nursery & Landscaping, picked out unique slabs of onyx, limestone, quartzite and granite to achieve the metamorphosis. They even found a piece of snow-white onyx with a natural line on it that creates the illusion of a snow cap on the hand-cut Teton Range backsplash over the backlit powder room vanity. The half-moon-shaped mirror above the vanity hearkens back to the owners’ first day in the house, when the path of the eclipse cast awe-inspiring shadows on the property, then lit up their dream home again.

The scale and quality of the stone throughout the house is a source of pride for builder Clint Cook. He even used scraps of the exterior stone to make benches lining the wraparound terrace and the fire pit out back.

Monstrous blocks of Oakley stone and reclaimed old-growth fir make the edifice as noble as the mountain range it faces. The stone is also used for the terrace and the heated walkway to the front door.

Remsik, who has now designed two houses in Jackson, enjoys bringing natural elements into mountain homes. “To me, that inside/outside feel is vital in mountain homes,” he says. “I spent a lot of time tweaking views.”

Earthy combinations of hand-textured Douglas fir beams and stone create a majestic yet cozy feel in the home’s entrance. Two giant, vaulted stone thresholds cloister the 23-foot-ceilinged great room, which Remsik elongated to create two seating areas, one facing the Grand Teton and the other facing a stone fireplace. “The space is defined by the stone arches and fireplace rather than walls themselves,” he says.

Adjoining the great room, the dining room has an air of Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous home built around a waterfall outside of Pittsburgh. “The best thing about the house to me is when you sit at the dining room table, it feels like the waterfall can get you wet,” Cook says.

The 20-foot-wide, man-made waterfall drops 20 vertical feet and is dispersed in seven pools leading to a small pond in the backyard. “We were trying to create a natural, spring-like feature that comes out of the hillside and down into the yard,” says Jared Searle, general manager at MD Nursery & Landscaping. “We wanted to create a soothing ambiance with the sounds of the water.”

To me, that inside/outside feel is vital in mountain homes. I spent a lot of time tweaking views.
— michael Remsik

For the husband, the dream is spending hours looking out at and listening to the waterfall, then turning his head to the opposing office windows, which paint a picture of the Snake River and the Tetons. “I wanted him to have the best views back and front, so we lined the windows up with the center of the Grand,” says his wife.

A custom handrail with glass inlays allows an unobstructed view from the office. “We created an open balcony with glass so it still feels like you are part of the great room,” says Jaxon Ching, founder of Willow Creek Woodworks. He suggested rustic walnut for the office’s built-in desk, bookshelves and cabinetry to add diversity to the palette of woodwork throughout the house.

A Murphy bed is hidden in the junior master bedroom, opening up the space so this guest suite can double as a sanctuary for the wife. Her private view of the Grand is framed by two aspen trees in the front yard.

A library nook off the junior master holds the biggest secret in the house: a bookshelf that opens into a storage space with easy access to the elevator, so the owners can carry things up from the mudroom or down to the media room and woodworking workshop on the first floor, depending on who’s doing the shopping.

The workshop, an unfinished space off the guest bedroom built for the owners’ grandchildren, will be the next metamorphosis for Remsik, who has his own woodworking shop in Dallas. Next, the owners plan to dream up some furniture.

Is contemporary intrinsically cold? That was the concern of a couple when they found an architectural masterpiece in Alta, Wyoming. Designed by skyscraper architect Richard Keating, the striking structure felt like a stretch for them, their East Coast roots and their predilection for mission-style furniture. “I thought it was absolutely gorgeous, but the house was essentially all steel, cement and glass,” one of the homeowners says.

They turned to their friend Rush Jenkins, CEO of WRJ Design, for advice. His counsel ultimately became the deciding factor in their decision to purchase the 70-acre estate.

“Our caveat was: Can modern be warm?” the homeowner says. “Rush assured us that it can be. He told us: ‘I promise you I can make your house feel like a home.’ That’s what convinced us to pursue a purchase.”

From the moment Jenkins glimpsed the house—cutting a daring silhouette above the rolling Teton Valley—he knew it would become a capstone project. Drawing on his background in both landscape architecture and interior design, he believed the residence represented a singular opportunity to design a holistic schema in communion with the setting.

“We consider every element in our design by envisioning a world that transcends the distinct components,” Jenkins says. “Everything must come together to create a calm, tranquil environment in harmony with their surroundings.”

Contextual complement

Honoring Keating’s angular architecture and its roofline reflection of the jagged Tetons, Jenkins imagined the interiors as a warm complement by channeling the wheat fields below the bold home. Also conscious of context, Keating had referenced Alta’s agrarian setting by using the corrugated metal sheathing silos and sheds to create a clean, minimalist stage for an interior vision.

Jenkins and WRJ Design Director Nida Zgjani rose to the occasion with an eloquent plan that proved worthy of the architectural statement Keating had made. Upon installation, Keating wrote Jenkins: “I wanted to relate how much I appreciate your firm’s work and the quality of interior design that the house never achieved in the prior owners’ time. … Please pass on to your team my appreciation and thanks.”

Harmony is the essence of WRJ—the foundation of our design philosophy.
~ RUSH JENKINS

Keating had sited the house in a particularly dramatic location, with endless views west and south. By his placement, the house serves as an amphitheater for nature: storms rolling in from the west, the wind whispering through the tawny waves of wheat, the fields changing hues with the seasons. “The house is immersed in the beauty of movement and seasonal change,” Jenkins says.

Thus inspired, he pulled this palette inside: the whites and grays of winter as upholstery, the wheat color from the fields as wood finishes, the azure of the endless bluebird sky as accents, the rich brown of the fertile soil as anchoring elements.

“The architecture is obviously a statement,” Jenkins says. “The interiors must communicate with the architecture, but also the landscape. All three elements must speak to each other and, through this open dialogue, achieve an overall harmony. As a designer, I consider the full circle: the architecture, the landscape, the interior. If you get that dynamic right, the house feels harmonious. Harmony is the essence of WRJ—the foundation of our design philosophy. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to have a place where you can retreat and feel nurtured.”

Graceful sanctuary

Attuned to art, Jenkins incorporated key pieces from the homeowners’ collection, including a landscape painting by their friend and Teton Valley neighbor Scott Christensen. The lustrous oil painting now lives within the entrance hall, its rich composition tying into the textured leather-and-bronze BDDW console—one of the first pieces picked for the house—and a pair of bubble sconces from Paris found at Ralph Pucci in New York. This serene vignette serves as an interior threshold, setting the tone for the rest of the house: for the majesty to unfold in the open living area, for the tranquility achieved throughout the interior. “Like the unfurling mystery of nature, the house reveals itself in moments,” Jenkins says.

Generous philanthropists, the homeowners needed living spaces capable of staging charitable events with many guests, but also cozy evenings with their family. The resulting living room flows with grace between seating and dining areas. Honoring their more traditional past, Jenkins chose several key pieces that translate the gravitas of classic furnishings into sleek shapes, such as the Holly Hunt seamless dining table in a deep walnut and the June Ho game table with its solid bronze trunk and white top.

To complement the concrete floors, Jenkins blended in gray, bamboo-silk rugs by Ralph Lauren, low-pile masterpieces that nearly disappear. Rife with such careful pairings, the home feels harmonious. “Your home is your sanctuary, the place you go to escape the troubles of the world,” Jenkins says. “Your home should rejuvenate you.”

Two enclaves, in particular, issue invitations to relax and restore. The first is the circle of Janus et Cie handwoven armchairs on the veranda, ergonomic designs that encourage sinking into (no pillows necessary). Guests can sit, sink and soak up the vista with a cup of tea or glass of wine, listening to the owls perched on the fence posts, tracing the pathway that leads to a fire pit imagined by WRJ’s COO, Klaus Baer. The other memorable moment lives inside, in the window bays Jenkins upholstered and plumed with pillows from Turkey. Loro Piana silk-and-linen drapes frame the bay, creating the perfect place to page through a book.

Luminous landscaping

Echoing WRJ’s approach, Brannon Bleggi, of Verdone Landscape Architects, set out to ground and soften the concrete, steel and glass structure without tethering its transcendent architecture. “We wanted to make it seem like it was floating in a sea of native grasses and plants, so that you see bits of the concrete poking up above, like waves lapping against a boat.” This sense of soft movement honored the structure’s form while simultaneously better integrating it with its surrounds. “The big thing was to showcase what the site had to offer,” Bleggi says.

The original overgrown shrubbery had made the house feel dark and cold, so Bleggi prioritized light. Rather than break up the geometric lines of the structure itself, he allowed filtered sunlight through aspen stands to soften the angles.

The element of water was further cultivated by revealing the brook to the south, a natural waterway previously heard but not seen. “We went in and surgically plucked out and poked holes within view of this mass of willows. We opened up peekaboo views into the brook which changed the whole liveliness of the house.”

Like WRJ, Bleggi considered texture and palette. “The native plants played well with texture, while allowing sprinkles of color to rotate throughout the seasons.”

Your home should rejuvenate you.
~ RUSH JENKINS

Such intrigue endures: Having lived in the finished home for several years now, the homeowners feel entirely at peace in the space. The warmth they hoped to see in the final product was actually achieved throughout the process. “All projects like this are fun, but there’s always a certain amount of stress involved,” the homeowner says. “This project turned out to be just fun. Rush and Klaus removed the stress for us.”

Settled on a picturesque hill in East Jackson, the Hoover residence blends a mountain lodge with urban convenience, modern lines with a rustic timber-beam structure, and indoor comfort with nearby wilderness. It’s the perfect in-town retreat for a mountain-inspired family.

A hand-selected team composed of Enclosure Studio, Trauner Fay Designs, New West Building Company and Frederick Landscaping contributed its unique talents and finest work to produce this meticulously crafted home.

While appearing as one property from the street, the structure cleverly conceals a dual residence. The primary home holds five bedrooms, seven baths, a recreation room, personal library, sauna and hot tub, theater and gym. Mirroring it is an attached three-bedroom, five-bath townhome for extended family.

Owners John and Jenifer Hoover originally envisioned a modern mountain home with an open floor plan, yet they wanted a timeless design. Choosing a traditional timber-frame structure met their goals, while providing character and warmth.

New West sourced the post-and-beam structure from Colorado Timberframe, where the Douglas fir wood and joints were machine cut with such exactness that only wooden pegs now join them together. Trauner Fay advised builders on just the right color of stain to retain warmth and bring out the wood’s natural grain.

All of this brings the beauty of the outside in, being the main reason why we live in Jackson in the first place.
~ the hoovers

A charming entry features a black, iron staircase against a three-story illuminated rock wall. Timber beams extend forward, leading visitors along hickory floors past a small office and into the open living area. Building designer Destin Peters intentionally varied ceiling heights here to create intimacy, strategically revealing some structural beams while enclosing others. He also featured reclaimed-pine ceilings in some areas, while in other spaces a more traditional white ceiling contrasts with the beams.

“We felt that all great spaces have an appropriate level of detail,” says John Hoover. “In an effort to make cozy spaces we put thought into how each area would feel.”

The dining room’s lower ceiling and stone fireplace protect the space, making it an inviting place to celebrate with family and friends. Though the well-equipped kitchen could easily turn out a multi-course meal, built-in and medium-distressed white cabinets and a marble island create family comfort.

Directly adjacent to the kitchen and dining areas, a vaulted ceiling sweeps up two stories with uncovered windows. The design draws your eye to views of the Tetons and the National Elk Refuge, a rarely obtained perspective in town.

Throughout the house, a one-eighth-inch inset on the Sierra Pacific windows, provided by View Point Windows, eliminates windowsills. Thoughtful window coverings and skillful landscaping conceal most of the surrounding development, so a gentle sea of rooftops and forest takes precedence.

Although the main living room’s scale is truly grand, Trauner Fay’s inviting touches mix a modern palette of white, cream, grey and black tones with natural wool rugs and sophisticated textures. The iron accents on an ottoman and table decorations echo the entryway and tie the spaces together.

Open iron-railing walls overlook the living room from the second floor, sheltering a private library complete with fireplace. An adjacent seating area faces the Tetons. Here, the ceiling trusses are inset with an iron bar, rather than solid wood, to further enhance the view.

The master bedroom also opens toward the mountains. A wall behind the bed conceals a circular, walk-through closet, making it easy for one partner to rise early, while the other sleeps in. A children’s bunk room and nursery are thoughtfully located nearby.

In the master bath, a light copper tub fills via a ceiling-mount spout with a gentle column of water. Travertine tile and a sealed glass door separate the wet bath environment for convenience. Interior designer Kristin Fay employed tumbled and honed travertine in all seven of the home’s bathrooms, designing a unique pattern for each application.

This continuity of key materials applies to the transition between the interior and exterior of the building, too. The same flagstone appears on outside porches as in the foyer and pantry floors. Exterior barnwood is also used as an accent wall in the entry powder room, as well as in the dining and entertainment cabinets. The same stone used for the main hearth, fireplaces and interior stone stairway wall is used outside on the chimney and entrance.

As the Hoovers say, “All of this brings the beauty of the outside in, being the main reason why we live in Jackson in the first place.”

Hickory-and-iron stairs lead from the main floor down to ground level. Designed for casual entertaining, this space features a third fireplace, floor-to-ceiling glass accordion doors that open to a hot tub, and a barnwood-adorned bar. A home theater, designed to acoustic proportions with a surround-sound system, next to a home gym and steam shower, complete the amenities.

The home’s three fireplaces were designed to appear as if they rest on top of each other, from ground level, to dining area, to library. However, they each use a separate flue, which required technical expertise in the installation.

During summer, generous decks draw the family outside. Sam McGee, owner of Frederick Landscaping, created a paved-rock seating area near the front entrance that provides a relaxing outdoor setting complete with natural gas fireplace. Careful placement of shrubs along the edge of the steep hill draws your eye beyond the nearby rooftops to beautiful scenery. A stream, fed by a 400-gallon ground vault that collects rainwater and recirculates the site’s runoff, provides both a safety measure and the ambient pleasure of running water. The deliberate yet organic landscaping ensures that the family will maximize use of the outdoor spaces during warmer months.

With such extraordinary attention to detail, the residence took nearly 1½ years to plan and design. Despite working on a tight site located on a hillside on a curve in the road, the team completed construction, landscaping and interior design in just 14 months. The result is outstanding: an in-town oasis designed and built to last for generations.