Bold shapes take style to the next level
Designer Jennifer Chipman conjures a mountain-meetsmodern décor for a newly expanded log home in Kamas
BY BRAD MEE
RRooted to its 50-acre Kamas property, this mountain house was recently reimagined to add more entertaining and living spaces, while maintaining the home’s original log-cabin charm, with its rounded-log construction, rustic stone fireplaces and alpine-inspired features. In fact, the expansion purposefully included Utah stone and locally harvested wood. “We preserved the original log beams, and harvested the additional full-round logs from the forest just outside of the property,” says interior designer Jennifer Chipman, who teamed with Arch Nexus and Magleby Construction to remodel and enlarge the mountain residence. While the overhaul came with a commitment to remain true to the original cabin’s DNA, it also provided an opportunity to infuse more comfort, warmth and modern flair to the home, indoors and out. “On the exterior, the biggest
ABOVE: Weathered white-oak floors, laid in a herringbone pattern, lead from the great room into the combined entry and dining areas. The dining table, crafted by Park City Stone and Wood, extends to seat twelve.
LEFT: Designer Jennifer Chipman began the Kamas project while working with Alder & Tweed Design Co. and completed it as the principal of her new firm, Bond Design Company.
OPPOSITE (CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT): A custom Blue Star range sits in a kitchen alcove faced with lime-washed brick.
A favorite spot in the home, the nook is “cozy, intimate and fresh in all the right ways,” Chipman says. The bench seat doubles as extra storage with large drawers that open from each end.
Double islands made by Selah Crafts & Design anchor the long narrow kitchen and provide abundant storage. Dramatically veined Dolomite from The Stone Collection was fabricated into countertops and installed by European Marble & Granite.
challenge was making the new materials blend seamlessly with the existing cabin,” says Chipman. “Metal cladding was added to the center structure to bring a more modern element to the design and to tie the original cabin to the new additions.”
Inside the dwelling, views reign supreme and Chipman was steadfast in keeping sight lines clear and using the décor to enhance rather than detract from the panoramic scenery. “The mountain views are definitely one of the home’s highlights and we wanted to embrace that,” she says. In the living room, for example, she chose a low-profile, 15-foot leather sectional to balance and ground the room’s impressive volume while allowing the expansive wooded landscape—as seen through a peaked, floor-to-ceiling window wall—to prevail. Upstairs, a hammered-copper bathtub performs like a solitary sculpture in front of the primary bathroom’s window wall, and throughout the home, soaring chandeliers accentuate impressively beamed ceilings and illuminate spaces without blocking or diminishing the views.
The designer similarly furnished the dining area—the first space visitors see from the main entry—where dramatic, windowframed views pull the eye in every direction. Floating in the open space, an expandable wood table boasts clean lines and a calming greige finish. It sits atop weathered white-oak floors laid in a classic herringbone pattern, contributing to mixed wood tones deployed throughout the interior. Chic wood-veneer wallpaper adorns the primary bedroom, rustic reclaimed wood paneling dresses the
OPPOSITE: Boasting a mix of rustic and modern design elements as well as two separate balconies, the loft lounge is part of the primary suite. Forester Birch floor lamps are by Jamie Young Co.; the Log Roman Stone coffee table is from Phillips Collection.
ABOVE LEFT: Inspired by the natural landscape, the laundry room décor features a wood-paneled ceiling, pebble-stone tile floor and cabinets painted with Sherwin-Williams' Rookwood Shutter Green. Cabinet pulls are from Rocky Mountain Hardware.
BELOW LEFT: Phillip Jeffries' Fade Wallpaper softens the décor of the powder room with its natural sage hues, organic pattern and brushstroke texture.
bunk room and birch-wrapped floor lamps light the loft lounge. “A single wood tone is boring,” Chipman says. “Layers of complimentary wood tones add interest and help create a collected look.”
Light hues brighten the kitchen, where a lower ceiling dictated by the existing structure is clad in flaxen cedar planks. Lime-washed brick hides irregularity in the original walls, and large double islands showcase the soft graining of white oak. “Our client opted for large windows instead of upper cabinets, so we maximized storage using the two islands and lower cabinets,” Chipman explains. A pistachio-hued hutch showcases the decor’s natureinspired color palette, as do the laundry room’s shutter-green cabinets and the powder room’s sage-toned Phillip Jeffries’ wall mural. “We used a lot of greens and earth tones to connect to the outdoors,” she explains.
Chipman also enlisted rich textures and
ABOVE: An upholstered poster bed, textured rug and walls dressed in silvery wood-veneer wallpaper counterbalance the primary bedroom’s rustic elements. No doors separate the room from the bathroom and office loft, blending the three areas into a luxurious suite.
LEFT: Native Trail polished copper sinks and Water Works faucets bring shimmering contrast to the primary bathroom’s Calacatta marble countertops. Sconces are by The Urban Electric Co.
OPPOSITE: A Native Trails Santorini copper bathtub creates a dramatic focal point in the primary bathroom.
From houndstooth to herringbone, menswear patterns put any décor on the best-dressed list.
HOPSACK HOPSACK TWEED
PINSTRIPE
PINSTRIPE SHEER Thibaut
“Menswear patterns add a level of sophistication and feel appropriate in a rugged setting.”
—Jennifer Chipman
HOUNDSTOOTH
LINEN HOUNDSTOOTH
Holland & Sherry
HERRINGBONE
NEVADA Kravet
PLAID FANNIN PLAID Lee Jofa
PAISLEY FOLIES Zoffany
ABOVE: Designed to sleep 11 guests, the bunk room is clad in reclaimed wood paneling and outfitted with bedding and blankets by Pendleton. Thick, sweater-like Cavan carpets deliver warmth and texture. Bunks crafted by Selah Crafts & Design.
LEFT: Snow covers the wooded property, as seen from one of the home’s large windows.
BELOW: The pool lures guests to the basement, where expanding glass doors seal the space from the rest of the lower level to control heat and humidity. The indoor pool is by BDL Structures.
subtle patterns to lavish detail on the décor.
“Almost every wall has a wood, stone, brick or wallpapered surface,” she explains.
“These textures help create the warmth we needed to balance the profusion of glass and offset the mountain chill.” So too does a myriad of luxe textiles, including suede leathers, cashmere and wool felts—many featuring traditional menswear patterns that “add a level of sophistication and feel appropriate in a rugged setting,” the
designer says. Mixed metals and a variety of marbles and stones similarly suit the mountain locale and help foster the collected, mountain-chic style the clients craved.
From the outset, the designer rejected stodgy furnishings and traditional western decorating cliches. Chipman says, “We never intended to create a ‘log-cabin’ log cabin, but rather an elevated take on mountain living with a high level of authentic materials, craftsmanship and design.”
ABOVE: The expansion added nearly 10,000 square feet of living space to the original 4,600-square-foot cabin. Bold architecture marries the structures with a mix of shingled and standing seam metal roofs, stone walls and chimneys, metal cladding and massive, locally harvested logs.