Mountain Mixture
A Jackson, Wyoming, home takes its cues from European design
With its enclosed alcove and glowing fireplace, the inglenook—the medieval symbol for hearth and home—was a natural location for people seeking warmth to gather. It was that sense of coziness and security that a California couple with two young children sought to emulate in their vacation home in Jackson Hole’s Teton Village.
In response, architect John Lauman of JLF Architects in Bozeman, Montana, crafted a structure cloaked in stone veneer outside and outfitted the interiors with a mix of wood-paneled and plaster walls as well as hardwood and quartzite floors. “It’s a smaller, almost stand-alone building that looks like it may have been a remnant from an earlier time,” he says.
The inglenook was the medieval symbol for the hearth and home with its enclosed alcove and glowing fireplace. It’s a natural location in this Jackson, Wyoming, home for people to gather. Leather sofas by Hardesty Dwyer & Co.
Inspired by Swiss chalets, San Francisco-based interior designer Beth Martin outfitted the intimate space with après-ski lounging in mind. “The leather couches and Hudson Bay blankets are perfect for relaxing,” says Martin, who in concert with Lauman managed to check every box on the homeowners’ list of wants—including the modern addition of a keggerator in the mudroom. After a long day on the slopes, the wife shares, “You can lie on the couch by a roaring fire and an IPA is never out of reach.”
Dining al fresco is an essential part of Western life, and Teak Warehouse teak-and-stainless-steel chairs and a teak table take advantage of the Teton views.
On the other side of the glass-enclosed breezeway that connects the inglenook to the main house, the materials change and the mood shifts. On the exterior, the simple amalgamation of stucco walls and cedar shake roof shingles are reminiscent of an old French farmhouse—“the wife came to our first meeting with a picture of an alpine version,” says Lauman—before taking on a modern countenance on the inside. “Cleaner, simpler finishes define the rest of the house. There’s no fuss or clutter, and there’s a bit of a contemporary push,” adds the architect, referencing the barn doors painted a crisp white, and industrial-steel ceiling trusses in lieu of the more expected timber framing.
A McLain Wiesand chandlier, a custom walnut table from Hewn, and an oak monk’s bench from Liz Spradling Antiques set a distinctive tone in the mudroom entry.
A sun-filled hallway connects the mudroom entry to the kitchen.
The kitchen blends traditional and modern with contemporary white cabinets; hutch designed by Martin Group and JLF Architects.
Taking her cues from the architecture, Martin selected a predominantly neutral palette and organic finishes like soapstone counters and limestone floors in the kitchen. Subtle color accents—“the blue on the living room drapes resembles a bandana and the faded green leather dining room chairs remind me of something you find in an old man’s library,” she says—take an intentional backseat to the spectacular landscape. “When you have the Tetons as a backdrop you want an understated color scheme that allows the landscape to come forward,” she adds.
In the living room designer Beth Martin paired custom sofas by Hardesty Dwyer & Co. with a rustic farm table from Early Electrics. The vintage Moroccan rug is by Tony Kitz, and the drapery fabric is Holland & Sherry.
Artwork plays a key role, with a Jennifer Pochinski painting from Dolby Chadwick Gallery making a statement in the dining room.
“The faded green leather dining room chairs remind me of something you find in an old man’s library.” –Interior Designer Beth Martin
Leather chairs by the Martin Group surround a Belgian table from WRJ Design Showroom in the dining room, where an antique kayak from Garden Court Antiques is among the home’s many inventive light fixtures.
But Martin is quick to remind you that there’s a fine line between understated and boring: Her decisions to cloak the media room with a wool wall covering—“so much cozier than paint”—and to turn a 1920s kayak into a dining room light fixture are anything but dull. “We didn’t want to do too much decoration, so we used sculptural moments like the modern form of the wingback chairs in the living room to add visual interest,” says Martin. She also introduced a custom teal mohair bed frame as the counterpoint to the hand-forged sheet-metal fireplace in the master bedroom. A papier-mâché deer head trophy in the media room provides a whimsical interjection, and her deft curation of the artwork supplies another level of sophistication. “I’m a huge believer in bringing art up with the house,” she explains. “That way it’s integrated and more successful.”
The Abe Lincoln painting brings a folk-art touch to the living room.
Wild West Ironworks fabricated the lighting, and the counter stools are from Shears & Windows.
That notion of integration is the tie that binds. From the mindful pairing of old-fashioned rolled-arm sofas and a vintage console cut down to coffee table proportions in the living room—nods to the inglenook, to the acknowledgment of nature with colors and texture—the merger is one of total completion. “We wanted it to feel seamless from outside to in,” Martin says. “Our design is always about the architecture and creating a sense of place.”
In the master suite the bed is covered in lush mohair by Romo Group.
ENLIGHTENING
Beth Martin knew the home’s lighting program needed to be more than just illuminating; it had to have a dialogue with the interiors that straddled the fence between
rustic and contemporary. Here’s how she did it:
ORGANIC APPROACH Visually enticing sculptural fixtures eschew Western clichés——“No horned chandeliers,” she says, in favor of a more organic approach. VARIETY Edison light bulbs encased in a simple metal ring chandelier, for example, lean rural and complement the wood walls in the inglenook entry while a pair of vintage work lights crafted from Bakelite dangle from the curved alcove ceiling. REPURPOSE For the main house, an inverted antique kayak wired for light and designed by Martin Group casts a glow on the Belgian table, stained teak gray, and contrasts with the more industrial custom kitchen fixture——a combination of forged metal, manufactured brass pieces and 32 light bulbs——crafted by a local blacksmith. MIXED METALS In the master bedroom a two-tiered chandelier with a black painted finish selected to sync with the sheet-metal fireplace forged by the same blacksmith completes the conversation.
DESIGN DETAILS
ARCHITECTURE JLF Architects INTERIOR DESIGN Martin Group SF CONSTRUCTION Big D Signature LANDSCAPE Verdone Landscape Architects
