At Home on the Water

Beneath the big Montana sky on the banks of the Yellowstone River, a raw and picturesque tract of land beckoned Dr. Bennett and Nancy York of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. An avid angler, Bennett pictured a modest fishing cabin with sweeping views of the river. He wasn’t interested in a big, splashy second home. Instead, he wanted an unassuming space with character and dimension. But, like all well-laid plans, this one encountered a major obstacle that would quickly shape the parameters of the project.

After snapping up the 28-acre property, the couple learned that because of its proximity to the Yellowstone River—a body of water prone to sudden rises—the majority of the property lies in a designated flood plain, with more than half in the floodway. Because of this designation, much of the land was labeled a no-build zone, and Bennett’s plans for a fishing cabin on the river were nearly washed away.

Seeking a viable solution, the couple turned to studio.bna and studioryker, two architecture firms in Livingston, Montana.

“Although the flood way is a no-build zone, you can use the foundations of existing structures,” says Brett W. Nave, principal of studio.bna. “Several small buildings occupied the property, so we came up with a plan to use their existing footprints to design a fishing cabin, bunkhouse and farmhouse that would blend with the natural surroundings.”

Nave, along with Lori Ryker, founder of studioryker, worked with the existing foundations to create an 856-square-foot structure—smaller than the couple had originally envisioned—raised five feet above the floodway. Sleek and modern, the cabin is a fresh interpretation of a Western retreat, with soaring ceilings and a multitude of windows that capture the natural beauty of the landscape.

For the full story, pick up the October 2008 issue of Mountain Living