03 Apr RENDERINGS: A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE

Nestled in Jackson Hole Valley, 3 Creek Ranch is a member-owned golf and fly-fishing community set amid an outdoor sanctuary, just five minutes from Jackson’s bustling Town Square. Providing a tranquil respite across 710 acres, and accessible just beyond the niceties and necessities of Jackson, the development is a collection of 135 homesites offered as cabin, estate, or ranch parcels. Interwoven with an 18-hole championship golf course, residences are surrounded by meandering creeks and native grasslands populated by trumpeter swans, songbirds, and cottonwood stands.

WRJ Design principals Klaus Baer (left) and Rush Jenkins (right) worked diligently to see the home’s design and construction through the rigors of COVID. “Building a custom home is a very long process. In this case, three years because of COVID,” says Jenkins. “We’re very process driven and strive to make the client experience enjoyable and seamless.”

Having lived his whole life in southern California, 3 Creek Ranch homeowner John Caskey has experienced a novel life with his family in Jackson. “My wife, Kimberly, and I grew up in southern California. We love being outside. We raised our children going to the beach nearly daily, even in the winter,” he says. “The kids are getting older, so we wanted a vacation home. We fell in love with Jackson the first time we visited. Now, it doesn’t feel like a vacation home at all. Living here for three- and four-month durations, we are experiencing life in four seasons for the first time.”

Though Caskey has always lived a nature-adjacent lifestyle, enjoying nearly uninterrupted blue skies and sunny days in southern California, 3 Creek Ranch presents an altogether different experience with the great outdoors. A lifelong surfer, Caskey now has the same access to snowboarding that he enjoyed in watersports while living at the ocean’s edge. Home to a diverse ecology of some 115 species of birds and 28 species of mammals, 3 Creek Ranch brings living in harmony with nature a whole new meaning, imparting a mindful stewardship of the land that ensures it remains unspoiled.

A real estate developer with 40 years of experience, Caskey was comfortable buying property and overseeing his dream home’s development. “In 3 Creek Ranch, there are design guidelines that each house must meet to ensure it fits in with the surroundings. On the inside, however, there is complete freedom to do something meaningful, which my wife and I wanted,” shares Caskey. The home’s palette is non-precious; while fixtures and furnishings are luxurious, they are not irreplaceable. Heavy timber beams with matte-black metal accents frame the living room. And reclaimed wood introduces a different texture to the stone fireplace. Daylight and views mingle with comfy accommodations, soft throws, and local art.

“The most important thing in building a home is to assemble a team that can bring your vision to life,” says Caskey. “We were fortunate to work with Stewart Construction Services, Hoyt Architects, and WRJ Design for interiors to design and build a home uniquely tailored to our lifestyle.”

Among the many personal touches in this Wyoming home designed by WRJ Design, Finn Juhl furnishings from Denmark, which were chosen by the client, represent the care and class that white-glove service demands.

In the Caskey home, nature sets the tone for lush, luxurious finery chosen for durability as much as elegance. While browsing a lifestyle magazine searching for inspiration, Caskey and his wife came across an article about a home they adored, and they immediately agreed they’d found their interior designer. “We read the article about this beautiful home finished in natural wood and stone that was different from everything else we were seeing,” says Caskey of the epiphany. “It was a WRJ Design home. So, we didn’t even interview anyone else.”

Like his clients, Rush Jenkins has refined tastes. And he comes by them honestly; he’s a local. “Before I left the family farm in Idaho to see the world, I used to come to Jackson as a kid,” says Jenkins of life on the other side of the Tetons. Later, traveling throughout South America, Europe, and Asia, he developed an eye for the exceptional. Along the way, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in landscape architecture from California State Polytechnic University–Pomona, and then attended Sotheby’s Institute for Art in London.

Milk-glass Leicht cabinetry, quartzite countertops, and dramatic glass pendants in black modestly say practical-chic.

“After my studies, I started working for Sotheby’s in New York City, the world’s premier destination for auctions, as the director of design exhibitions. I started WRJ Design as an exhibition and interior architecture design practice in 2003. WRJ has since designed more than 70 exhibitions, including one for the life, legacy, and couture of First Lady Nancy Reagan.”

After a few years of completing residential landscape and interior projects in New York, Jenkins acquired partner Klaus Baer in 2008. Ultimately, the duo moved the business to Jackson in 2011, opening their doors to a market ready to elevate expectations for luxury residential design.

John and Kimberly Caskey knew they’d found their designer while browsing a local lifestyle magazine, saying they looked no further.

“I love design in every form. Landscaped gardens, fine art, silver objects, furniture, textiles, metalworks, and stone are all excellent style enhancers,” says Jenkins. “The opportunities to create something special and personal are endless. Harmonizing these elements to deliver luxurious serenity for our clients gets us out of bed in the morning with vigor.”

Arriving in Jackson as a party of two 15 years ago, WRJ Design’s current team of 25 now orchestrates niche-market interiors for custom homes in Jackson and beyond.

“Like every home we work on, the Caskeys’ reflects their lifestyle. He’s a snowboarder; she’s a skier. They are here for the winter weather, which, of course, is a very rugged time of year in western Wyoming,” says Jenkins. “We developed a beautiful, welcoming interior that’s not precious. We didn’t want silk fabrics. Life in this house will be filled with dogs, grandkids, and snow boots. So, it was essential that finishes and furnishings be resilient to casual living.”

Inspired by the soft blues and sage greens of the Grand Tetons in the spring, an abundance of natural elements embellish every WRJ home.

Jenkins says a consistent process is as relevant as a well-refined point of view to bring a home from inspiration to realization. “Our primary focus is creating beauty. Certainly, we deliver inspired design, but it is equally important to us to deliver a beautiful experience,” continues Jenkins. “Building a custom home is a very long process. In this case, three years because of COVID. We’re very process driven and strive to make the client experience enjoyable and seamless.”

WRJ Design’s services are white glove. Clients are taken through a questionnaire that asks about lifestyles, casual to formal; color and material palettes that resonate; and patterns, prints, and preferences on a room-by-room basis. Clients review WRJ’s style books of past work, providing a reference point for things they love, why they love them, and how similar elements might embellish their home.

Informed by nature and context, WRJ Design used naturally weathered reclaimed wood that once stood sentinel as snow fencing to finish the home’s interior walls.

Design charrettes involve hands-on interaction with fabrics, wood tones and textures, stones, tiles, and bricks, potentially sourced worldwide. “Past clients have joined us on trips to New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and Milan to see, feel, and experience the finishes and materials firsthand,” says Jenkins. “When the design is ready, we do a comprehensive presentation of the entire house with several layers of detail to ensure we are hitting the mark.”

At the Caskey residence, the material selection was informed by natural stone sourced from quarries in nearby Montana. Reclaimed, repurposed snow-drift fencing common to the Rocky Mountain West covers the walls throughout the living space and corridors. In the bedrooms, wallpapers in muted earth tones are joined by minimalist-profile furnishings. Leather, linens, elegant art, and regionally sourced furs blend in an elixir of luxury bejeweled by views in every direction.

Gentle light, soft throws, and time gather no dust in this four-season retreat.

“The design showcases the soft blues and sage greens that you’ll see in nature around Jackson as the seasons change,” says Jenkins of the finished product. “Though our work is always inspired by nature, we also want worldly materials and sophistication to inform the finished spaces and the client’s experience. Most importantly, creating beauty involves both design and the relationship you build with the client.”

A veteran of the development game himself, Caskey agrees, stressing the importance of teamwork and the personal touch that makes a house feel like a home. “We have several pieces of Finn Juhl furniture from Denmark throughout the house, which is an element I picked myself,” says Caskey, before closing wisely: “My wife chose everything else.”

Sean Vincent O’Keefe is an architecture and construction writer who crafts stories and promotional copy based on people, ideas, and more than 20 years of experience in the built environment. You can reach him at sokpr.com.

Roger Davies is an English-born interiors photographer living in California’s Laurel Canyon. Over the course of his more than 20-year career, his work has appeared on the covers of Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and Vogue Living, among others. Davies’ first monograph, Beyond the Canyon: Inside Epic California Homes, focuses on his work in the Golden State and includes rarely seen architectural gems by Tadao Ando, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry and showcases the homes of Drew Barrymore, Elton John, and more.