Rustic Charm Permeates this English-Inspired Home

The home’s party-perfect back patio is furnished with RH lounge chairs and ottomans surrounding a CB2 coffee table, with a pendant light from Ballard Designs and Rejuvenation sconces. | Photo: Justin Officer

Creating a home with your mother can lead in a beautiful direction—if you both have a good eye for design. Fortunately for Kate Schintzius, principal designer and owner of Montana-based Kate Schintzius Design, her mother is also a seasoned design professional, having operated a tile business before she retired.

After Schintzius’ brother settled in Bozeman, she and her mother enjoyed visiting him so much that they decided to look for a house and put down roots in Montana themselves. However, on the way to finding a place that suited their own tastes, Schintzius and her mother stumbled upon a horse ranch in a town nearby that they knew would be a perfect fit for her brother.

The kitchen was designed with wide passageways to avoid traffic jams, with custom cabinets by Great Northern Woodworks, playful bunny backsplash tiles from Grow House Grow, and Rejuvenation pendant lights. Kitchen stools are upholstered in Morris & Co. for Sanderson fabric. | Photo: Justin Officer

In a stroke of luck, the house next door was also available. So, Schintzius and her mother purchased that place and moved in while they began to hatch a bigger plan. “We said, this is great to get established, but we’re going to set something back in here and do a family compound,” Schintzius says. With her own 11 acres adjoining 11 acres that now belonged to her brother, she conceived an entirely new house where she and her mother would live.

Schintzius shared key words, including “authentic, clean, cozy, simple and unfussy,” with Jon Evans, president and founding partner of Bozeman’s North Fork Builders. She says, “I wanted it to look like it had always been there. I just wanted a clean slate where I could bring my personality into the interiors with a lot of vintage details.” Evans recommended Bozeman-based Thinktank Design Group as project architects, and, together with Schintzius and her mother, the team collaborated to create a 4,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home.

The cozy living room called “the snug” is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Gothic Green, with artwork by Claire Rosen above the moss-rock fireplace’s reclaimed, hand-hewn wooden mantel. An imported Indian chaise is ready for lounging with bolsters in Morris & Co. for Sanderson fabric. | Photo: Justin Officer

“It felt like building for a family, which was fun,” Evans says. Interior spaces reflect a merger of Schintzius’ and her mother’s visions. “We came with two different perspectives and tastes, so we had to figure out where we overlap,” Schintzius says. Fortunately, they discovered a shared love for the work of one legendary designer. “Where we found we really had a lot of common ground was William Morris fabric and wallpaper patterns,” Schintzius explains.

“They’re obviously from England, but I think they really do well in the Mountain West; they are botanical, they have an organic element, and so we did quite a few things—from pillows to the powder-room wallpaper—and we love the color palette, so that was a great place to jump off for us.”

The fresh and bright family room has a Pottery Barn sofa, pillows made with fabric from Morris & Co. for Sanderson, Crate & Barrel poufs, and a rug from Serena & Lily. The coffee and side tables are vintage. | Photo: Justin Officer

That balance of styles and personalities led to a charmingly eclectic home. Schintzius refers to the cozy, green-walled living room as “the snug.” “It’s kind of an English-inspired room,” says Evans. “We spent a lot of time dialing in the millwork and shelving.” By contrast, the family room is light and bright, with a fireplace crafted from reclaimed bricks and painted white. Schintzius especially loves the quirky upstairs breakfast bar. “It’s the best thing in the world,” she says.

With the collaboration complete, everyone is pleased with the outcome. “Like any other project you’re undertaking, there are growing pains and frustrations, but at the end of the day, that all makes for a funny story,” says Schintzius. And it’s certainly a story for this family to cherish.

Schintzius designed her own bedroom with a CB2 bed, Moroccan blankets on the bed and wall, vintage Drexel side tables and a Miles Redd for Ballard Designs light fixture. | Photo: Justin Officer

INTERIOR DESIGN – Kate Schintzius Design
ARCHITECTURE – THINKTANK Design Group inc.
BUILDER – North Fork Builders
LANDSCAPING – Big Country Landscapes