Architecture & Interiors
Perfect Harmony
A Montana home resonates with the surrounding land as much as it does with the owner’s heart

Audrey Hall’s Montana residence isn’t your typical dream home. There’s nothing grandiose about the structures; in fact, her house, studio and garage intentionally resemble outbuildings. But that’s precisely how the homeowner envisioned them.

“She’s a photographer by profession and has obviously spent a lot of time looking at buildings on the landscape,” says Lori Ryker, who worked with fellow residential designer Brett Nave on this design/build project set in Paradise Valley. “Because this site is open grassland, she knew there was no way to hide them. Plus, this area has a rich ranching heritage.”

The resulting agrarian vernacular, adds Nave, isn’t unlike the tractor sheds and horse barns that dot the countryside. Even the way the new buildings were sited is intrinsic to the area. “Here, you typically see clusters of trees and clusters of buildings surrounded by thousands of acres,” he explains.

Thus, Audrey’s place looks like it has been part of the landscape for decades. It’s impressive, especially considering that the designers’ challenge wasn’t limited to a certain exterior look. The homeowner also requested that the interior have the feeling of a New York City loft.

The two ideas may have seemed totally incongruous to some, but these design pros quickly found common ground. “Some real creativity came out of thinking about how to marry the two concepts,” says Ryker. “Audrey wanted to use as many sustainable materials as possible, and I thought about the post-and-beam aspect of city lofts; I used to live in New York, so I had a pretty immediate reference to that. We thought if we could have the house come out of the idea of a barn structure, which is also typically post-and-beam, that [construction technique] could be our common departure point,” she explains. “While it would look like an outbuilding, it would only reference one, not replicate one.”


For the full story, pick up the November/December 2008 issue of Mountain Living.