From Our Editor: Rustic Roots
A note on ML's highly anticipated September/October 2025 issue from Editor in Chief, Darla Worden.
Portrait: Povy Atchison
Perhaps it was the family lore of my great-great grandfather’s pioneer cabin on a Montana ranch that inspired my love of rustic, hearing the tales of intrepid pioneers building from materials they could put their hands on—stone, logs, sod. Each year I look forward to our September/October Rustic issue, arguably one of the most popular with our readers—and I’ve watched as the rustic form has expanded and evolved from log-and-chink cabins to modern interpretations that use logs, barnwood, stone and even sod—but in new ways.
In this issue’s Architecture department, we ask three esteemed architects about their definition of rustic today. “Rustic architecture will always be tied to its past,” says Paul Bertelli of JLF Architects. “But it’s about reimagining those elements in a way that respects their origins while making them relevant in today’s world.”
Through modern improvements in insulation, radiant floor heating and glass, homes are designed to be comfortable in mountain elements yet also bring the outdoors inside. Windows maximize views; movable glass walls remove barriers to nature. We introduce you to beautiful rustic homes in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah: some traditional, some with modern touches, all examples of rustic architecture today.
Photographer Audrey Hall, who with author Chase Reynolds Ewald launched the duo’s new book Modern West this month sums up what she has seen in her years photographing homes in the Mountain West. “The nature of the Western dream is different than it was even 20 years ago,” says Hall. “We are seeing a shift not only in the architecture and design of modern Western homes but also the people who are building and living in them, embracing modern materials.”
Rustic architecture may have its roots in the past, but it’s exciting to see architects adapting and improving upon the style to suit the way we live today.
Darla Worden
Mountain Living Editor in Chief
See it all in the September/October 2025 issue of Mountain Living
