Years ago, Idaho-based builder Mat Hall read about the ancient Japanese wood-preserving technique called Shou Sugi Ban. The treatment involves charring wood to promote resistance to fire, degradation, and pests, and it results in a beautiful dark tone with unusual texture and depth. At the...
For a peripatetic family, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, finally feels like home The family had been gamely relocating from one city to another, bouncing between the San Francisco Bay Area, London, and New York City for years, when they decided they should search for a special place...
A PRACTICAL AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT RETREAT ON THE EDGE OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK People say it’s a good idea to really get to know a property before you build. But living in a yurt, without power or plumbing, through three winters on the edge of Glacier National...
A custom home in Big Sky, Montana, complements an active family’s lifestyle Matt and Heather Morris met at work, and although the venue was Fenway Park (she was there as a writer, he was there as a pitcher), they talked about skiing, specifically about skiing in...
Whitefish Lake, northwest Montana’s spectacular high-altitude destination, has been drawing out-of-staters for generations. Seven miles long and only a mile wide, the lake is anchored at its southern tip by the quaint town of Whitefish. For one couple, part-time residents but longtime homeowners who once...
The home, a modest three-bedroom cabin with a small wooden deck and brick fireplace, was built in the middle of the last century in the style of the times, on the edge of an overgrown slope above Rock Creek along the road to Beartooth Pass...
Sometimes the best ideas start as simple conversations over a game of golf. That’s just what happened with Al Meitl as he played a casual 18 holes one Saturday morning in his hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri. His golf partner owned a house on Georgetown...
For Jody and Sandi Marler, the move from fast-paced city living in Chicago, Illinois, to the serene mountains and rivers of Paradise Valley in Southwest Montana was a dream come true. While they were both confirmed city dwellers — he worked in construction on high-rise...
When a Bay Area family decided on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as the location for their second home, they initially chose to live on a ranch. “We knew we wanted to be near a world-class ski mountain, and also have some kind of town where we...
As avid skiers, Paul and Caroline Goodfellow have spent a lot of time in ski resort towns, but when they set foot in Whitefish, Montana, at the suggestion of a friend, they knew something was different. They were looking to build a vacation house as...