Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

A Mountainside Aerie Near Red Lodge, Montana

A Mountainside Aerie Near Red Lodge, Montana

This home integrates materials that speak to the surroundings, and nature takes center stage

A mountainside home that seems a perfect fit for its place may have a sense of inevitability about it now, but it was a long time in the making.

The homeowners had spent a decade vacationing in Jackson Hole before pursuing their own home. They then visited mountain towns all around the greater Yellowstone area, searching for the right property.



The entry highlights the conscious minimalism of landscape architect Charlie Kees of Field Studio, whose design defers to its alpine meadow environment. The custom door is reclaimed wide- plank white oak; custom hardware by Brandner Design.

They’d not considered Red Lodge until a friend waxed poetic about its attributes: great skiing, a vibrant town with good restaurants, proximity to Yellowstone and, best of all, an off-the-beaten-path vibe. But even after buying property, they didn’t start a project right away. They waited, and they acquired more land, until they had just the right configuration for building.

“The final piece we bought was key,” says the husband. “We built the house on that piece to face the rest of the property we’d bought earlier, then we nestled it back into the mountain to make it disappear.”



The kitchen marries book-matched marble and a custom light fixture with rustic materials.

The clients envisioned a clean mountain look with large expanses of glass warmed up by rustic materials. (By the time they designed the home, the wife laughs, “We’d had fifteen years to think about what we wanted.”)

They chose Pearson Design Group to conceptualize the house, OSM Construction to build it and Field Studio landscape architects to help integrate the structure into the landscape. The client’s Atlanta-based interior designer, Alice Cramer, visited Montana for the first time to help realize clean, livable interiors in a subdued palette enlivened by pops of color.



Built of regional stone and natural weathered wood, the home is very much of place and commands views up and down the valley.

What’s striking about the home, other than its siting-anchored into and embraced by the mountain, yet offering its residents an edge-of-the-precipice exhilaration-is its appropriateness. At 4,800 square feet, with a material palette of regional stone and natural weathered wood, it is human scaled and keeps its focus on the outdoors.



Designer Alice Cramer paired the custom dining table with West Elm chairs and Ochre lighting. Artwork by Montana photographer Stephen Shore.

“There’s an inherent challenge in building on a mountain and not skylining a project,” notes Pearson Design Group Principal Justin Tollefson. “The house wraps to the hillside, and, especially when viewed from downhill, it blends into the hillside and the topography with the rock outcroppings. The driver for us was to make it a dynamic modern piece of architecture while not forgetting its place.”



Minotti living room furniture lends a clean, neutral look and keeps the focus on the views.

The house aligns almost entirely on one level at an elevation of 6,500 feet and contours with the mountain. It’s defined by one long graceful line of a shed roof lifting up and out toward views of the Beartooth Mountains, with the cabin-like forms of the guest room and owners’ suite protruding in different directions from the main volume and a deck off the great room cantilevered into the view. Utility spaces and a bedroom are anchored into the hillside end of the house; the open kitchen, dining area and living space, unified by concrete floors and an open three-sided fireplace, embrace 180-degree views.



In the primary bedroom, a graphic Patterson, Flynn and Martin rug grounds the room. The light is from Arteriors, the bench from Robert James. A small patio barely protrudes into the landscape and is minimally furnished with Restoration Hardware chaises.

Multiple exterior spaces offer varied views and shelter depending on which way the wind is blowing, while intrusions into the land- scape are minimal. The main bedroom’s sandstone terrace, for instance, is just large enough for two chaises, while an outdoor room with a stone fireplace and reclaimed wood ceiling nestles into the hillside, hidden from view and protected from the elements. The landscape palette is designed to naturally blend into the native sage-brush and prairie grasses.



In the serene powder room, the concrete counter with integrated sink is illuminated by a pendant light from Palecek.

“We talk a lot about being indigenous to a region,” says Tollefson. “The [home’s] architecture and materiality are local, and while there are aspects that might look elegant, such as the double cantilevered roof and deck, we never forget craftsmanship. This house is grounded in the ruggedness of the materials: the strength of the steel and stone, the texture of the wood. These ingredients are enough.”



The outdoor dining area, tucked between the house and a wooded hillside, was conceived on a windy day, when the importance of shelter was obvious. The furniture is from Home Infatuation.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×