A Park City, Utah Dwelling With a Melodic Stream Song

Mountain vistas from every room are accompanied by the naturally calming soundtrack of the stream that flows behind this home

December 20, 2022

Irene Rawlings,

In the open-plan great room, the neutral palette does not compete with the views. The solid stone hearth is a perfect perch for warming up after being outdoors in the snowy landscape. | Photography by Skylar Christensen

Swooping great blue herons and nesting golden eagles occupy the wetlands behind this solidly minimalist home—which also has sweeping views of mountains and farmland, and elk herds grazing in the nearby meadows. Named “Stream Song” by the owners, the home is a beautiful and tranquil family retreat—with the added bonus of its proximity to world-class skiing at Park City Mountain Resort. “My husband and I are lifetime skiers,” says the homeowner, “and our children practically grew up on the slopes.”

A custom live-edge slab dining table amply seats 10; the chairs are upholstered in a performance velvet. A glass pendant chandelier (a custom fixture) creates a focal point and casts a soft ambient light.

Before they bought the building lot, the future homeowners sought expert advice from Mark Bates, principal of Huntsville, Utah-based Mark Design, and Chad Magleby, president and CEO of Lindon, Utah-based Magleby Construction, with whom they had worked on other projects. Extensive upfront planning allowed the construction to move quickly. From design drawings to move-in, the two-level, 7,728-foot home was completed in less than two years.

Because views were paramount, Bates visited the site numerous times to understand the sun’s path, the moonlight and wind-and-stream sounds. “It was a very compact building pad,” he says, “because the lot is bordered by a stream and wetlands.” In response, Bates designed a long structure that “used every available foot.” There are view corridors in every direction, but the most dramatic is from just inside the etched-steel front door, looking through the house to the mountains. “I want everyone who walks in the door to smile … and think, ‘How beautiful is this?’” says Bates.

The kitchen’s quartzite countertop has an induction cooktop and wash-up sink and offers comfortable seating. The range hood was painted to complement the dark-stained oak cabinets.

Some of the other “cool” things about the home: its white-oak floors, highly polished plaster walls that reflect the light, marble fireplaces and beautifully engineered timber-and-steel ceilings. “The rooms have high ceilings, but also a human-sized perspective,” says Bates. “I didn’t want the vastness of that hotel-lobby look.” But the coolest thing of all—the extra garage. Says the homeowner, “My husband collects sports cars, including a vintage Porsche. We built a separate garage for his collection. We call it the ‘toy garage.’”

In the long, window-lined hall, the wooden ceiling mirrors the parquet floor.

Everyone gathers in the home’s spacious kitchen. “I love to cook, and, pre-COVID, we did a lot of entertaining,” says the homeowner. “We often laugh that we built a party house in the middle of the pandemic.” Her husband frequently has his morning coffee sitting in the kitchen and facing the mountain views. She prefers her cozy office just off the spacious butler’s pantry with its floor-to-ceiling cabinets in which everything is labeled and color-coded. She hired a professional organizer to come up with the system and now enjoys the neatness and order it provides.

The fireplace in the handsome main bedroom provides warmth and a cozy ambience. Patterned marble carries the eye upward to the beamed ceiling and open-circle chandelier. A jaunty mix of pillows on the sofa invites sitting and relaxing.

For the interiors, the homeowners turned to Jo Ann Howa, founder and principal designer of Park City-based Natural Instincts Interior Design, with whom they had also worked on a previous project. “The homeowners developed a vision for this home over many years and had been keeping a folder of pictures and ideas,” she says. In the primary rooms, the owners wanted a neutral palette. Colors and patterns are kept to a minimum; the focus here is on texture and form. Uncurtained windows frame mountain, forest and meadow views—lush and green in summer, golden in autumn, white with snow-clad trees in winter.

Large windows above the tub look out on the landscape.

The private areas of the home consist of the owner’s suite, three guest suites, a king-plus-two-twins bunk room, five bathrooms (the one in the owner’s suite has a steam shower and mountain views from the tub), and three powder baths. The home has three washer/dryer setups, including the mudroom, which also has a wash-up area and feeding station for the owners’ two golden retrievers.

“Every inch of this home was discussed and considered by the homeowners and the design and construction team,” says Howa. The homeowner agrees: “The beauty of our home is in the exquisite details … and the endless views.”

The linearity of the home was dictated by the stream and wetlands that border the back of the homesite. Pictured from the backyard, the two-level home boasts picturesque views from nearly every room. The owners made a conscious decision not to add curtains to the windows.

WORKING WITH A CONTRACTOR

The home its owners call Stream Song was move-in ready in 16 months from breaking ground and came in under budget. Pierrette Tierney-Magleby, vice president of business development at Magleby Construction, offers these tips for working with your design team and your contractor:

ENGAGE YOUR TEAM EARLY IN THE PROCESS, including the architect, interior designer, contractor and landscape architect. ESTABLISH GOOD COMMUNICATIONS. Take time to discuss every detail, no matter how small it seems. BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT YOUR STYLE. Ask questions. Be prepared to listen. OUTLINE WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOU. Make sure your preferences are unambiguous. Is a spacious, walk-in closet important to you? If custom woodwork is key, ask if the construction company has an in-house cabinetry shop; this allows for better control of quality and schedule. In the mountains, should you consider a mudroom and/or ski-gear room in which to remove and store your ski gear? Maybe a washer and dryer on every floor? If yes, planning ahead (and plumbing ahead) will save time and money in the future. Should you consider pet-proof flooring and finishes? MAKE DECISIONS UP FRONT to ensure a timely completion of your project. HAVE A DEDICATED ON-SITE PROJECT MANAGER (on the job site eight hours a day, five days a week) to monitor the work and thus prevent costly construction mistakes and delays while also ensuring quality and safety.