London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×