Sun Valley HOME Fall 2011/2012

white clouds S u n Va l l e y, I da h o

White Clouds is an exclusive neighborhood in Sun Valley consisting of 30 estate lots and up to 100 townhomes. • Four Townhomes are under construction, one under contract • Special offers available for the first four residential lots for 2011 Office in the Sun Valley Mall, next to the Sun Valley Deli Open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday Office in the Sun Valley Club, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday

w w w . Wh i t e C l o u d s Re s i d e n c e s . c o m

P

G

DIN

PEN

G

IN END

D

SOL

D

SOL

You r d r e am h o m e in S u n Va l l ey

white clouds S u n Va l l e y, I da h o

White Clouds is an exclusive neighborhood in Sun Valley consisting of 30 estate lots and up to 100 townhomes. • Four Townhomes are under construction, one under contract • Special offers available for the first four residential lots for 2011 Office in the Sun Valley Mall, next to the Sun Valley Deli Open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday Office in the Sun Valley Club, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday

w w w . Wh i t e C l o u d s R e s i d e n c e s . c o m

Wa l l ac e h u f f m a n S u n Va l l e y C o m pa n y 208-622-2828 • 8 0 0 - 8 9 4 - 9 9 3 9 i n f o @ Wh i t e C l o u d s Re s i d e n c e s . c o m

CONTACT:

Visit our website for More details

You’re here for the lifestyle.

We’re here for you.

You’re in the Valley for its distinctive style. And, Cox is here to help make it easier and more enjoyable for you to connect and entertain. We are Sun Valley’s communications expert, delivering all your in-home services including Cox Advanced TV now with On DEMAND, Cox High Speed InternetSM and Cox Digital Telephone®. So, when you’re ready to live it up with family and friends, we’ll be there to help you make the most of it.

Call 208-928-6783, click www.cox.com or come in — 105 Lewis Street in Ketchum, ID. Available to residential customers in Cox Sun Valley serviceable areas. Cox TV Starter at a minimum, Cox Advanced TV receiver or CableCard rental, and Digital Gateway required. If you own a One-way Digital Cable Ready (DCR) TV or other display device that is CableCARD™-compatible, you may lease either a CableCARD or a Cox Advanced TV receiver in order to receive Cox Advanced TV. In order to receive Interactive TV services offered by Cox, such as the Interactive Programming Guide (IPG), OnDEMAND, Pay-Per-View, and all Cox Advanced TV options, you must rent a Cox Advanced TV receiver. If you wish to rent a CableCARD in lieu of a digital receiver, you must obtain the CableCARD from Cox. CableCard is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs®) and is used with permission. Telephone modem (no additional cost to consumer) may be required. Modem uses household electrical power to operate and has backup battery power provided by Cox if electricity is interrupted. Telephone service, including access to e911 service, will not be available during an extended power outage or if the modem is moved or inoperable. Prices exclude taxes, surcharges and other fees. Installation charges and other restrictions may apply. Telephone service provided by Cox Idaho Telecom, an affiliated Cox entity. Modem required for Cox High Speed Internet service. For best performance, use of Cox approved cable modem is recommended. Uninterrupted or error-free Internet service, or the speed of your service, is not guaranteed. Actual speeds may vary.

Installation fees, taxes, franchise fees and other surcharges are additional. Other restrictions may apply. © 2011 Cox Communications Omaha, LLC. All rights reserved.

Let us make your table setting anything but ordinary . . .

Fine Linens, Table Settings, Home Decor, Gifts and Interior Design Services 560 East Avenue North , Ketchum, ID • 208.726.5511 • www.thepicketfence.com

36

departments

52

15 | Solutions: Elements The details of a home make all the difference. We highlight several elements you can add to your home or workplace.

24 | Before & After: Into the Future Ketchum’s classic Old West Main Street gets a makeover. by katie matteson

33 | Fine Details: Local Treasures Design experts pick their favorite items and reinvent the idea of antique.

60 | At Home: Room Service A handful of local interior designers share their favorite rooms, and explain what makes them so unique. by patti murphy

70 | Craftsman Profiles The arts of balance, transparency and union, as practiced by Mark Stasz, Steen Sorenson and Michael Doty.

Also in This Issue 10 | From the Editor

44

features

36

Metal • Boulder • Concrete

Three core materials. Three unique houses. One thing in common: creating an eloquent and distinct home by expanding the traditional limits of resource use. by crystal thurston, adam tanous and mike mckenna

44

The Upside of Upcycling

Nancy Glick shows us the upside of the growing trend of upcycling.

11 | Contributors

photographed by courtney samway

80 | Why We Live Here

52

on the cover

Susan Seder’s guest room teepee is a warm and cozy retreat for friends. photographed by tal roberts 6 sunvalleymag.com | Home

70

Living Roofs

Rooftop gardens are starting to plant roots in ski towns like Ketchum, and for good reason. by mike mckenna

33

metal house: nikul shah / garden view: thia konig / sink: courtney samway / mark stasz: kirsten shultz / barcelona chair: kevin syms

contents // inside

SUN VALLEY BRONZE Fine Solid Bronze Architectural Hardware 866.788.3631 tel

•

208.788.1306 fax

www.sunvalleybronze.com SCIENTIFIC CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS SCS-MC-01755 - SCS-MC-01756

SCS certified for 90% pre-consumer recycled content silicon bronze and 95% pre-consumer recycled content white bronze sand cast architectural hardware

contents // online

{ www.sunvalleymag.com }

HOME ARTS DINING COMMUNITY WELLNESS RECREATION REAL ESTATE PAST ISSUES RESOURCES WEDDINGS BLOGS

home and garden

When you want more, visit www.sunvalleymag.com for in-depth stories, multimedia features, local color and resources.

Who doesn’t love a good wedding!

web extras

Valley Calendar Wondering what to do?

Check out our jam-packed online calendar first.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more cool happenings in and around Sun Valley.

Don’t miss your weekly Horrorscope from Clouds McCloud every Monday afternoon!

Get more . . .

Stories

In honor of its 25th anniversary, Patti Murphy profiles the award-winning Arne Bystrom designed solar house in Trail Creek. A quarter of a century later, the glass, concrete and wood home still proudly stands as an architectural and artistic tour-de-force.

Of course, the hearty (and hungry staff) at Sun Valley Magazine doesn’t just write about restaurant construction and remodel, we like to go out to eat at these breathtaking places as well. We share stories about the mouth-watering experiences of eating at the glowing bar at Cornerstone, at Main Street’s newest sensation della MANO and about enjoying some after dinner fun at the beautifully restored Whiskey Jacques.

Yum! | A Blog About Food Whether you want to grow and harvest, or simply prepare and enjoy, Yum is all about food and the role it plays in our lives.

Hitched | Planning Your Big Day Everything you need to know to plan your dream wedding plus the resources to do it!

Fetch | For the Love of Pets About all things feathery and furry, scaled and four-legged, Fetch gives tips and tells tales about how to keep your pet of choice healthy and happy.

Local Buzz | Who What Where & Wow! Photos and write ups on what’s happening every week in the Valley.

Slope Style | All things Mountain From skiing and boarding Baldy, to the clothing and equipment needed to make your stay on the mountain more enjoyable. By Katie Matteson

>>ENTER TO WIN!

Romantic dinners at the Valley’s best restaurants, weekend golf getaways, spa packages and more!

We’ve got the best prizes in the Valley.

Be sure to register weekly. www.sunvalleymag.com 8 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Galleries Catch more of Sun Valley Magazine’s world-class photography, including: more “after” images from our selected remodels, Mark Stasz at work, additional views of the Glick and Ooms residences, plus outtakes from the Boulder Home.

Gone Fishing | Life on and off the waters of the Wood River Valley Selected by the Idaho Press Club as the Best Blog for 2010, Gone Fishing features humorous and hopeful articles on everything from fly fishing to local war heroes to bumbling one’s way through parenthood. By mike mckenna

cake: craig wolfrom / glass house: tim brown / bike: hailey tucker

Local Resources Menus and restaurant reviews at your fingertips ... We’ve made dining out in the Valley a whole lot easier. Browse menus of nearly 100 local restaurants or read reviews and profiles in our weekly Yum blog.

blogs

interior design

Jennifer Hoey Smith, ASID Nationally Licensed & Award Winning jenniferhoey.com 208.726.1561

INNOVATE | INSPIRE | CREATE

JENNIFER HOEY

home is a powerful word. Home isn’t simply a place or even a destination. No, home is more of a state of mind and a feeling in the heart.

It’s that feeling you get when you top the crest of Timmerman Hill, or begin to switchback down from Galena Summit, or when the plane makes the final descent into the narrow, wondrous and welcoming valley where the Big Wood River flows.

It’s the state of mind we drift into when we walk in the front door and slip off our shoes, or sit down to enjoy a fire, sunset or a favorite magazine. It’s how we feel when we share our special place with family and friends. It’s where we go when we want to get away from it all or to simply sleep like a child.

Home is, after all, where the heart is—it’s also where the bed, TV, heat source and fridge are. We are creatures of comfort after all, and no place should be as comfortable as our own homes. That’s why this issue of Sun Valley Magazine HOME is dedicated to ways we can improve the comforts of our homes.

These pages are filled with tips, stories and stunning photographs of everything from adding different elements to your home (check out our Solutions department on page 15), to rebuilding from the ground up while focusing on the use of one key material (check out the feature, Metal • Boulder • Concrete on page 36) to tapping into the growing “green” trend of finding treasure in the trash heap (Nancy Glick’s story on the Upside of Upcycling starts on page 44).

We also pay homage to the new look several recent commercial remodels have given historic downtown Ketchum (Before & After begins on page 24), a handful of gifted local designers (see Patti Murphy’s piece on page 60) and to a trio of resident craftsmen (check out Hailey Tucker’s profiles on page 70).

Locals play a big role in making a place feel like home too, especially if they’re helping to build your dream home or to add an exciting new element to an old one. That’s why this issue is loaded with long-time local professionals. We interviewed people like master gardener Kelley Weston, master craftsman Steen Sorenson and mastermind stair-builder Bill Amaya. We picked the brains of award-winning designers like Jennifer Hoey Smith and Bruce Martin and highly-acclaimed architects and builders like Michael Doty and Dan Young.

After all, whether you’re building a staircase, waterfall, magazine or fireplace you have to have some passion and pride if you’re going to make it into something special. It also helps if you love where you work and live.

Something that’s obviously pretty easy to do when you call this Valley home.

So it doesn’t matter if the Wood River Valley has been your primary home for a long time—like most of the staff here at Sun Valley Magazine—if it’s your second home or if Sun Valley and its surroundings are simply the place you like to visit. It’s really about how this place makes you feel.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes so brilliantly put it, “Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”

10 sunvalleymag.com | Home

courtesy mike mcckenna

from the editor // insight

GREYHAWK CONSTRUCTION

contributors // photographers & writers

SUSTAINABLE FUNDAMENTAL

Courtney Samway (The Upside of Upcycling, pg. 44) was born and raised in the Wood River Valley and grew up with a passion for living an active lifestyle and the great outdoors. She has studied and taught native skills with several wilderness survival schools around the world, including Tom Brown’s Tracker School. Courtney is a local trainer at 5B CrossFit, a strength and conditioning studio that hosts daily workouts designed to improve every domain of an individual’s health and fitness. Her photography work consists of landscape, lifestyle, athletic portraiture and architectural. Courtney’s personal photo work, including prints for purchase and a blog can be found on her website, www.courtneysamway.com.

Tim Brown (Into the Future, pg. 24, Boulder, pg. 42) was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1963, where he presently lives with his wife Lisa and their daughters, Barrett and Waverly. He studied fine art photography at the University of Arizona before moving on to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. His commercial experience has included working for The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Patagonia Inc. and Architectural Record. Tim’s third architectural book is available through Gibb-Smith Publishing, “Sun Valley Architecture and Interiors,” which contains 213 photographs of local architecture. Along with his architectural photography he has recently turned his attention to videography. Shooting musicians across the USA and Canada including: The Steve Miller Band, Kid Rock, Fergie, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Santana, Joe Cocker, ZZTop, George Thorogood and Les Paul among others.

EXCEPTIONAL

Nancy glick (The Upside of Upcycling, pg. 44) was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, on a teeny tiny cattle ranch.

From the age of seven, she spent all day, everyday riding her horse or dancing around in a tutu. We think it was the sparkles that kept the tutu going for so long and if you remember Elaine from Seinfeld you’ll understand why she finally shed the tutu for riding breeches. Nancy earned her bachelor’s degree in communication and journalism from Gonzaga University and still rides her horse, Bombay, as much as possible at Lucky13 Ranch.

Since moving to Ketchum in 2004 (for the 2nd time, the first was in 1994), Nancy met and married her husband Josh, has become a member of the Mud Honey Cycling team and volunteers with the Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer Research. She works a lot, too.

ORIGINAL

kaite matteson : david j. crewe

/ courtney samway: courtesy courtney samway / nancy glick: tony demin / tim brown : paul exline

Born and raised in a Wood River Valley family that spent more time on skis than practically anything else, Katie Matteson (Into the Future, pg. 24) grew up on the slopes. Katie recently returned to Ketchum after graduating from New York University, traveling and working in Asia and Africa, and interning at Skiing Magazine in Colorado. Between laps on Baldy and hikes in the mountains, she works as a staff writer and the online editor for Sun Valley Magazine.

208.720.7900 Home | sunvalleymag.com 11

www.greyhawkconstruction.com greyhawkconstruction@gmail.com

Home ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS FALL 2011/2012 publisher/editor in chief Laurie C. Sammis

associate publisher/ circulation director Laurie Christian managing editor Mike McKenna art director Robin Moore Leahy production director Julie Molema graphic designer Cara Shumate staff writer/ online editor Katie Matteson

copy editor Brooke Pace McKenna Jody Orr

advertising sales Laurie Christian Nancy Glick Laurie C. Sammis

controller Linda Murphy Sun Valley Magazine www.sunvalleymag.com contact: info@sunvalleymag.com advertising: sales@sunvalleymag.com MAGGIE AWARDS

WESTERN PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION

Best Semi-Annuals/Trade & Consumer Finalist Best Special Theme Issue/Consumer Finalist

2010 OZZIE and EDDIE AWARDS

Gold Winner for circulation less than 6 times per year, full issue—Summer 2010

SOLID BRONZE ARCHITECTURAL HARDWARE

K E T C H U M

S H O W R O O M

2 6 0 N O R T H W O O D W A Y 888.788.0076 • 208.726.2345 MONDAY–FRIDAY 8 AM–5 PM OR BY APPOINTMENT

Green.

2010 Idaho Press Club

Best Magazine Serious Feature—“Idaho Basque Tables,” Summer 2010 Best Blog—“Gone Fishing”

2010 MAGGIE AWARDS

WESTERN PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION

Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Consumer Magazine Finalist

2009 MAGGIE AWARDS

www.rockymountainhardware.com

WESTERN PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION

Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Consumer Magazine

2008 OZZIE and EDDIE AWARDS

Eddie Award, Editorial Content—Summer 2008

Ozzie, Best Use of Photography—“Spirit Messengers”, Summer 2008 Sun Valley Magazine® (ISSN 1076-8599) is published quarterly, with a special annual HOME edition, by Mandala Media LLC. Editorial, advertising and administrative offices are located at 111 North First Avenue, Suite 1M, Hailey, Idaho 83333. Telephone: 208.788.0770; Fax: 208.788.3881.

Mailing address: 111 North First Avenue, Suite 1M, Hailey, Idaho 83333.

Sun Valley Magazine. Copyright ©2011/2012 by Mandala Media LLC. Subscriptions: $22 per year, single copies $5.95.

The opinions expressed by authors and contributors to Sun Valley Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor and publisher. Our printer is SFI- and FSC-certified. Paper used contains fiber from wellmanaged forests and meets EPA guidelines that recommend a minimum 10% post-consumer recovered fiber for coated papers. Inks used contain a percentage of soy base. Our printer meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) standards.

www.astismittens.com

Postmaster please send address changes to: Sun Valley Magazine, 111 North First Avenue, Suite 1M, Hailey, ID 83333

Printed in the U.S.A.

12 sunvalleymag.com | Home

ART OF PLACEMAKING WAIMEA HAWAII

SUN VALLEY IDAHO

Mark de Reus is one of the AD100 Architectural Digest's listing of the world's best architect's and designers Mark de Reus

www.deReusArchitects.com

GENERAL CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS 208-726-3830 | www.conradbrothersconstruction.com | 220 Lewis Street, Ste. 4, Ketchum, ID 83340

courtesy cimarron lofting

Elements What really makes a home—or a business, library or backyard for that matter—special isn’t its size or how much it costs. What truly makes a place special are the details, the elements, both big and small, and how they flow together.

And the details of any home can essentially be broken down into what are considered the four classic elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. One element is solid, one mobile, one fluid and one combustible.

In honor of this, we offer up a handful of ways to improve the elements of your special place.

BY Mike McKenna

solutions // elements

Earth

Color and Texture The first elements any of us notice about a home are its color and texture. We notice the floors and the walls, the wainscoting and the windowsills. And they speak to some part of us. They says something to those visiting, and about those residing. Color and texture are very important.

That’s why John Sweek and his crew at J.E. Sweek Architectural Coatings decided to open up a showroom on Warm Spring Road in Ketchum. “It’s a convenient place to visually put things together. We can mock up stuff and explore how to make it work on any budget. It’s a huge benefit,” Sweek explained.

Specializing in wood finishing, plaster, stucco and all kinds of painting, from floors to ceilings, 16 sunvalleymag.com | Home

inside or out, Sweek’s crew prides itself on executing the needs and desires of their clients.

“We provide alternatives for specific interests, and we have a deep enough knowledge base and experience that we can meet just about any need,” said Sweek, who first opened up J.E. Sweek Architectural Coatings in 1992.

Whether you want stucco exterior walls and plaster inside, you’d like French polish or waxing and glazing in the foyer, or maybe you’d prefer gilding and patina adding some dimension throughout the place, Sweek’s team can make it all happen. They literally color the earth around you—or as Sweek so eloquently put it, “We harmonize perspectives.”

courtesy j.e. sweek / courtesy cimarron lofting

The first elements we notice are color and texture.

Professional Roofing

Air/Earth

Stairway to Heaven Technically, what the crew at Hailey’s Cimarron Lofting does is considered an element of the earth. But that’s just part of it, for they also work in the element of air—they build stairways and handrails that aren’t just functional, they’re art forms.

“A stairway is the biggest architectural element in a home, most of the time, so we see it as a two-story sculpture,” Bill Amaya said.

Amaya’s been doing carpentry in the Valley since 1978 and founded Cimarron Lofting in ’98. The company’s impressive resume includes one-of-a-kind stairways all over the West.

“We pretty much don’t repeat a design … ever. It’s all very customer-centric stuff. The clients are always involved in the design,” Amaya explained, adding that his team’s building experience coupled with the state-of-the-art technology they’re tapped into makes almost anything possible.

Technology is actually a three-headed monster for the company. It begins with a highly detailed drawing program that can sketch almost anything imaginable. The next step is digital fabrication by the “robot,” as Amaya calls the tool. Finally, they have one of the world’s most accurate digital measuring devices. “We can take accuracy into a house, which isn’t very accurate,” said Amaya, admitting he’s a bit of a techno geek. Because of the top-notch technology and the years of experience, Cimarron Lofting is doing some of the most original stairway work in the country, made of all kinds of elements from wood to metal, glass to stone. They are literally taking the earth-bound element of a residence and carrying it to new heights.

“We can take any idea, reel it in,” Amaya explained, “and make something tangible.”

Home | sunvalleymag.com 17

www.proroofingsv.com 1391 South Main St., Bellevue, ID

208-788-1411

solutions // elements

Air

Life’s Soundrack

One of the best parts about being home is that it’s the one place we can actually control the soundtrack of life. Home is where we tap into the soothing sounds of music or a favorite movie, where we want to feel the roar of a sports crowd while sitting on the couch or enjoy the giggling of kids playing interactive video games.

It’s these elements—the airwaves that please our ears and the visual waves that please our eyes—that the team at Soundwave in Ketchum focus on. “We provide an experience for people,” says Liam Grant, the company’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Sound is part of the experience of the home, so expanding and improving the sound improves the experience.”

Soundwave has had an electronics shop since 1996 and prides themselves on their knowledge and customer service. “The customers are the captains of the ship,” Grant said, pointing out that most rooms are oriented towards things like fireplaces that don’t get used nearly as often as televisions. “It’s not just a black box on the wall. It’s an ever-changing media outlet.”

One of the goals of any low watt project Soundwave takes on, from installing a TV to redesigning a media layout to putting in a home theatre or installing outdoor speakers, is to help future-proof your home. “It’s important to have a long term plan,” Grant said, about the technological elements that are ever-changing. “You don’t want to get something that needs to be replaced, but rather can be expanded on.”

Soundwave is even specializing in Sonos systems, which allow you to play music from a handheld device like your iPhone in any room in the house—giving you full control of the airwaves.

18 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Home is the one place we can actually control the soundtrack of life.

Air

courtesy soundwave / courtesy maestro technology solutions

Technology at Fingertips

What makes modern technology so much fun is that it brings everything to our fingertips— and it does so in the blink of an eye. We never see the text arrive at the phone or the email fill up the inbox, the photo show up on Facebook or the movie arrive at the screen. It’s as invisible as fresh air.

So there’s something magical about it to us laymen—all we know is that we enjoy (and quite frankly need) the end result. And it’s in the end result that the crew at Maestro Technology Solutions takes the most pride.

“I refuse to let my guys take shortcuts,” explained owner Kyle Baysinger, who bought out his business partners in 2009. “We execute the same way no matter the level of the client.”

Maestro, founded in 2004, has become so accomplished in its execution that they don’t just do residential applications of all sizes, they also handled the A/V (audio/visual) at high-profile projects like the Craters of the Moon National Monument, the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley and most notably at Ketchum’s Community Library. Maestro helped spearhead three major projects at the library, including installing stateof-the-art wiring for internet access—a project they donated and help raise over $10,000 worth of free labor and product for. So besides being thorough, they’re also beneficent.

“We put in a solution that isn’t just going to last for now, it’s going to last for a long time,” Baysinger said, expressing a theme for his business. Although their real company motto already has an air of magic in it: “Making the technology in your life into a masterpiece.”

Home | sunvalleymag.com 19

Interior Design • Retail Showroom Fine Furniture • Bedding and Pillows Draperies and Roman Shades Antiques and Paintings • Decorative Accessories Porcelains and Florals

(208) 726-6994 120 South Leadville Ave., Ketchum, Idaho www.foxcreekinteriors.com

See Our Ad In

shutters shades draperies furniture fabrics bedding carpeting wall covering

solutions // elements

MAKING THE TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR LIFE INTO A MASTERPIECE

Doing it right…

start to finish.

making the technology in your life into a masterpiece.

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL Quality Installation • Attention to Detail Commitment to Clients and Community

“Maestro’s technical expertise and efficiency are second to none. Their technicians are courteous and achieved their goal of complete customer satisfaction.”

-A���� P������, IS D�������, ��� C�������� L������

water

Nature’s Tranquil State

������ •

• �����

208.726.6050 | www.MaestroTS.com

The element of water is usually the most overlooked in a residence. Showers, baths and pools may be spectacular, but water is seldom enjoyed in its more natural state, like ponds and waterfalls. Places where fish or waterfowl would feel at home.

It’s just such watery places that the folks of Alpine Aquatics focus on. Kevin Lenane is a resources and fisheries biologist, as well as the owner (along with his wife, Fran) of Alpine Aquatics in Hailey. They specialize in the element of water. “We do water resource management. We’re here to help,” Lenane explained as massive trout and coy swam around the main water structure at his shop in the airport industrial center.

But Alpine Aquatics does more than simply manage water—and educate folks about its rights—they can install and maintain (in an ecologically friendly way) everything from 20 sunvalleymag.com | Home

The element of water is seldom engaged in it’s more natural state at home.

bubbling pottery vases to gurgling fish ponds and fauna friendly streams to roaring waterfalls. Heck, they’ll even store the fish in the winter for you.

“We give the clients what they want and we create things that offer tranquility, harmony and something you can relate to,” Lenane said.

“We put [water features] in your living space.”

Since water, especially in high desert spots like the Wood River Valley, is such a precious resource, Alpine Aquatics practices “green” ways, using only natural products. “It’s all about balance. We pride ourselves on low to no maintenance,” Lenane said, explaining a proper alignment of aquatic plants is usually the key.

“Copper is the hardest product we ever use.

We’re doing good for the ecological system.”

Of course, as an aquatics-based biologist, Lenane never forgets that, “water is a living organism.” And indeed it is, which is why we’d be wise to incorporate more of this element into where we live.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 21

CLIFFHANGERS,INC. Specializing in decorative concrete finishes

208.788.4196

solutions // elements

organic • local • vegan

FEEL AMAZING! Hydrating Organic Juices, Energizing Superfood Smoothies, Live Vegan Entrees, Delicious Raw Chocolates, Decadent Desserts Classes, Juice Fasting, Nutritional Consultations

There’s a magic about fire that alights something within us.

Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm 380 Washington Ave. #105 Ketchum. Idaho (208) 725-0314

www.glowlivefood.com

22 sunvalleymag.com | Home

© 2 0 1 1 wat e r w o r K S I S a r e g I S t e r e d t r a d e m a r K o F wat e r w o r K S o p e r at I N g c o . , l l c

w w w.wAt e r w o r k s . c o m

introDucing

HENRY fittiNgs & gRovE bRickwoRks D e s i g n A u t h e n t i c i t y, Q u A l i t y, A n D c r A f t s m A n s h i p

fire

Magic For Your Home

Fire is usually the most striking element in any home. There’s a magic about fire that alights something within us. We like to start it, stare at it, toast marshmallows or our buns by it.

That’s one of the great things about fireplaces—be they in the living room, office or backyard—they not only entice us spiritually, they keep us warm as well. “What we do is bring heat or aesthetic into a home with the use of fire. We’re kind of a destination for all things fire,” said Travis Zerba, co-owner of Fireplaces Etc in Hailey.

One of the biggest challenges of adding the element of fire to a residence is deciding which form works best. Fireplaces for both inside and out can burn wood, gas, pellets, charcoal or ethanol, or they can be electric. “They all have their pros and cons. It’s about finding the right thing for the customer,” said Zerba, who explained that their large showroom, “helps people get a visual concept of what they want.”

The team at Fireplaces Etc also prides themselves on their environmentally responsible practices, customer service and on keeping up-to-date on trends, products and codes. “It’s a really fun time to be in the business. There’s such a huge variety now, so many options and ways to meet any aesthetic,” said Zerba, whose family background (his business partner is his brother, Luke Andrews) before opening the shop in 2000, was HVAC. “Our background gives us the ability to really analyze and fulfill a customer’s needs. We can figure out a way to make it work and make sense. We basically treat people the way we’d want to be treated,” Zerba said. And since the element he deals in is fire, warm, dry and staring in a blissful wonder is apparently how the staff at Fireplaces Etc would like to be treated.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 23

H e n r y L o w P r o f i L e d e c k m o u n t e d L avat o r y fa u c e t w i t H L e v e r H a n d L e s a n d g r ov e b r i c kwo r ks i n s u g a r w H i t e

AVA i l A B l e At r o c k y m o u n tA i n h A r D w A r e 2 6 0 N o r t h w o o d way K e t c h u m , I d | 8 8 8 . 7 8 8 . 0 0 7 6 | 2 0 8 . 7 2 6 . 2 3 4 5 h o u r S : m o N d ay– F r I d ay, 8 a m – 5 p m o r b y a p p o I N t m e N t w w w. r o c K y m o u N ta I N h a r d wa r e . c o m

before & after // commercial spaces

before: courtesy michael doty / after: tim brown

BY Katie Matteson

into the future before

Ketchum’s classic old West Main Street adds some new style

“I wanted to use materials that could engage people and surprise them.

Maybe even giving them something to smile about.”

—Michael Doty

24 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Ketchum has a colorful history—one full of legends, tradition and even a few tall tales. A drive down Ketchum’s Main Street evokes images of a classic western mining town from an era long gone. The picturesque street showcases mercantiles, cowboy bars, casinos and brick-walled grocers from the 1880s.

So how can business owners create change in a town so steeped in a Hemingway-like history? How do they use these relics to invoke a sense of modernity all while maintaining their history, their charm and their character?

It is a challenge recently faced by several creative local builders, designers and architects who, inspired by the fabled Ketchum history and motivated to create something a little different on their beloved Main Street, tackled renovations and rebuilds in downtown Ketchum.

RUSTIC

MOUNTAIN

RUSTERN

Cornerstone Bar and Grill The Challenge

Architect Michael Doty says remodels are “journeys by nature.” The renovation of Cornerstone Bar and Grill was no different. Owners Meg and Erik Vorm, along with builder Dan Young of Young Construction and Michael Doty Associates, started with a building that was essentially just a brick shell built in 1887. Along the way, the team encountered surprises like brick and mud walls, bathrooms in need of demolishing and an almost unusable basement space. But overall, they wanted to keep it contemporary with all of its old character. For the bar, the goal was to create a space that was friendly, comfortable and functional.

Additional Changes

“Everything behind the bar was laid out perfectly, right down to the location of the taps, the fridges, the register, and the sink,” Doty explained. “It was important that the bartenders stay busy in an effective and efficient manner but maintain constant interaction with guests.” The bathrooms were

before

another focus of the remodel, as the Vorms wanted them to compliment the entire experience of the building. Initially, the bathrooms were not even plumbed into their current location, an additional endeavor tackled by the team. The washrooms now feature modern art, metal wainscoting, unique fixtures and impressive lighting—and they definitely extend the Cornerstone experience and add to the overall “wow-factor.”

The Result

A bar and dining experience that could be found anywhere, in a big city or Ketchum, Idaho. Features and elements that work together to create a space worthy of its 2010 American Institute of Architects Honor Award.

Special Touches

You couldn’t miss the bar if you tried. The Chroma material

with LED lighting is one of the restaurant’s best highlights.

Check out its changing colors that seem to alter with the mood of whoever has bellied up to the bar’s light show.

In the Business

MODERN

The showcase bar enlisted the work of the Salt Lake City-based company, 3form, which works primarily on special lighting projects like this. Idaho Falls engineers, ES-Squared, went above and beyond to create new ways to keep the old structure in tact.

• The Team Architect: Michael Doty, from Michael Doty Associates of KetchumSun Valley.

Builder: Dan Young from Young Construction of Ketchum.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 25

DOUGLAS W. BURDGE, AIA www.buaia.com

208-495-3228 310-456-5905

before: courtesy christopher & co. / after: tim brown

before & after // commercial spaces

della Mano The Challenge

For builder Joe Marx, being a part of a renovation on Main Street was something he had wanted to do since moving here 20 years ago. “It was nice to be a part of the updating and rebuilding of a town we love,” he said. Marx worked with owners, chefs and designers Taite Pearson and Sarah Lipton to transformthe della Mano space from an empty former jewelry store to a modern yet rustic restaurant. Built in the 1930s, the space has history and a quirky construction. Ultimately what 260 Main Street has become is a unique place where Pearson and Lipton can showcase their passion for food in an atmosphere that is warm and inviting but has a modern twist.

26 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Additional Changes

Cashing in on every remodeler’s dream, the plan was to install new flooring. But when the carpet was pulled, original oak floors were revealed. A little patching and refinishing was all it needed.

New electrical was installed throughout, which was especially important as della Mano’s environmentally friendly kitchen runs on electric heat.

The Result

A small space with big impact.

Modern touches are paired with rustic elements to invite guests to dine at the community tables or with friends in a space that brings old Ketchum into present day.

Special Touches

Chef Pearson designed the wine

before

boxes mounted on the wall to be both art and functional wine storage. The lighting for the jewelry store stayed the same, as the dining tables lined up where jewelry cases once stood. When concrete blocks were cut from the kitchen floor to plumb for dishwashing, the blocks were used as a backdoor pathway. The kitchen is fully mobile, with everything mounted on casters, making it easy to clean.

In The Business

Local electrical contractor, Tim’s Electric, helped make the electric heat kitchen possible. Big Wood Plumbing in Bellevue updated the bathrooms and installed an all-new dishwashing system. Tom Shulz installed the back wall of the dining room, a feature piece of gray and orange. The kitchen’s sustainable flooring is a 1950’s product called marmoleum.

• The Team Builder: Joe Marx, of Idaho Mountain Builders in Ketchum

By appointment only PO Box 7039 Ketchum, ID 83340

Designers/Owners: Taite Pearson and Sarah Lipton before

Home | sunvalleymag.com 27

208.726.1028 www.brucemartininteriors.com bruce@brucemartininteriors.com

before & after // commercial spaces

WhiskeyJacques The Challenge

Whiskey Jacques is a place of good times and old friends.

When a 2008 fire razed the entire bar and night club, Preston Zeigler of Sawtooth Construction and architect Buffalo Rixon of Ruscitto|Latham|Blanton Architectura were faced with the challenge of restructuring the beloved Whiskey’s. They had a singular goal. “We wanted to try and keep it comfortable and recognized. We didn’t want it to be a new place, just better,” said Rixon of the expedited seven-month project.

before

• The Team Architect: Buffalo Rixon, of Ruscitto|Latham|Blanton Architectura in Ketchum Builder: Preston Zeigler, of Sawtooth Construction in Ketchum

Additional Changes

Hands-on owner Karen Martin wanted to develop an upstairs bar, which ultimately included two outdoor patios and a multipurpose room. The floor plan stayed the same as the former Whiskey’s, but better facilities for the staff and bands were added, as well as upgraded bathrooms.

A new visual exterior compatible with a historical Main Street Ketchum theme and an interior that has the same ol’ Whiskey’s feel. As Rixon explained, “The team maintained the building’s heritage while moving it into the future.”

Special Touches

Zeigler said the building’s longevity was important. “This part was tough because so much of the interior is wood and it gets so much abuse,” he said. So an abuse-resistant, Pergo-protected laminate wood flooring was used, a product that’s cheaper to replace every couple of years than it is to refinish the wood floor yearly.

In the Business

Sean Tajkowski of Ketchum’s Technical Planning and Engineering did all the sound to beef up the capabilities for music and entertainment at the bar. Almost all of the subcontractors who worked on the project were local, and Zeigler was excited to showcase local craftsmanship and show how it could all be done without leaving the Valley.

28 sunvalleymag.com | Home

before: courtesy ruscitto|latham|blanton architectura / after: f ive b studios

The Result

before

Home | sunvalleymag.com 29

before & after // commercial spaces

Roxy’s The Challenge

Additional Changes

Originally the market had two office spaces, one above the entry way and the other upstairs in the back. The owners agreed that they needed only one, thus the front office was removed and large windows were put in its place. This opened up the entire building, creating more natural light and amazing views of the slopes of Baldy from the cash registers. Bathrooms near the entry were also added, as well as new mechanical systems and plumbing.

The Result

A new roof, a new exterior, new paint and siding, paired with stripped concrete flooring gave this old market a brand new feel.

An “industrial chic” look that makes you forget what it used to look like.

For More Images

home and garden

{ www.sunvalleymag.com } 30 sunvalleymag.com | Home

before

• The Team Architect: Michael Doty, of Michael Doty Associates of Ketchum-Sun Valley Builder: Dan Young, of Young Construction of Ketchum

Special Touches

Architect Michael Doty essentially became the designer on the project as he worked to use industrial components that could become refined interior and exterior materials. One example was his use of bonderized steel, a corrugated metal usually used for roofing, as siding for the building. “I wanted to use materials that could engage people and surprise them. Maybe even give them something to smile about,” he said.

In The Business

The bonderized steel is simply an off-the-shelf corrugated metal that is meant to be more than just wallpaper and a coat of paint. The flooring is the original concrete, ground down to become the cool gray that you see today.

before: courtesy michael doty / after: tim brown

Built in the early 1980s, the Roxy’s Market building located on the corner of Main and River Streets in Ketchum once housed Williams Market. After sitting empty for almost 15 years, the building was in desperate need of a makeover.

This is where Michael Doty of Michael Doty Associates and Dan Young of Young Construction came into the picture once more.

Owners Roxanne and Michael Lawler wanted to make it look fresh, new, and different—all in a cost-efficient way that would highlight their organic and specialty products. Young said of the project, “Essentially, everything was reconditioned, refinished, and refurbished.” The layout of Roxy’s Market stayed entirely unchanged, and not much structural work was done, but the team came through creating a familiar, yet brand new market.

vertical

CMYK

100 C PANTONE

PMS CYAN

Idaho Mountain Builders | Home Performance System is designed to improve energy efficiency, sustainability, home health and value CMYK

Custom home builder | Home efficiency expert | At the forefront of the green building movement Designed and built Ketchum’s first LEED Certified home 70 C

0M 100 Y 9K

59 C 0M 53 Y 80 K

PANTONE

photography by tim brown

PMS 362

before

CONTACT uS FOR AN INITIAL vISIT HOME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM Energy Efficiency Evaluation IdahoMountainBuilders.com | 208.726.1603 | Ketchum

PMS 553

individual dreams . . .

. . . individual attention See the diversity of our portfolio at leeGilman.com Above: Nasvik Residence, Hailey, ID

208.726.3300 • 460 Sun Valley Road

c

a

l

tr

e

a

su

r

e

s

fine Details

Lo

PHOTOGRAPHY Kevin Syms

We asked four Wood River Valley design experts, Terri DeMun from Lone Star, Marina Broschofsk y from Red Door Design House, Susan Flynt from em•bel•lish and Deanna Melin from the Vault, their thoughts on how to add antique treasures to your contemporary home. Here are their ideas.

1 2

3

in a box

1. Vault: A hand carved, 19th Century Fruitwood End Table that would work beautifully as a nightstand is a Petite Coffer straight out of the Savoie Alps. 2. Lone Star: Looks can be deceiving with this Repurposed Storage Box constructed from recycled barn wood, topped with a found object lid, complete with vintage ceiling tin and an antique glass door knob for some zing. Use it to hide dog food, junk mail or those old mittens you just can’t seem to throw away. 3. Lone Star: A Reclaimed Wood Drink Table makes a perfect resting place for your favorite cocktail. Antique wood is made contemporary with a cool design giving it a vintage yet modern feel.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 33

Fine Details // local treasures

Red Door Design House: Hand-carved, unique Horse Heads lend a regal air to you home. Herd them or separate them, they’ll carry the day regardless. em•bel•ish: Keats would have been proud of this urn-like objet d’art, lacquered vibrant in just the right shade of Chinese Orange. This Vintage Vessel adds the perfect touch of feng shui to a room.

Lone Star: Vintage industrial parts, add years of patina to this Found Object Lamp. Add whimsy to any table top with this repurposed piece.

em•bel•lish: Classics never go “out of style” as with the Spanish Barcelona Chair inspired by ancient folding chairs worthy of kings.

em•bel•ish: Conjure civilizations past with this boldly textured Decorative Ottoman covered in tapestries straight from the Silk Road.

Lone Star: You don’t have to wear Brooks Brothers to appreciate it. Just take these repurposed Throw Pillows made from men’s suits and toss them around your couch.

You’ll feel like you’re in a Park Avenue penthouse.

Red Door Design House: A boat becomes Reclaimed Bench with this carved, colorful piece taken from the wood of what was once a beloved vessel.

Red Door Design House: A natural twist on light comes in the form of this woodsy Twig Lamp, providing a focal point with texture to any room.

Red Door Design House: Antique Industrial Wheels displayed on metal stands in different sizes and heights add dimension to any space.

Red Door Design House: You don’t have to beach comb to bring the ocean home. Just find the right spot for this Found Wood Candelabra.

Vault: Your pets will find a friend with this 16th century St. Francis Relic, originally from the Glenn Janss Collection, wife of the late Bill Janss, a onetime owner of the Sun Valley Company.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 35

36 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Metal Concrete Boulder Three core materials. Three unique houses.

One thing in common: creating an eloquent and distinct home by expanding upon the traditional use of resources.

Web Extras: Patti Murphy’s profile of the awardwinning glass house by architect Arne Bystrom.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 37

ARCHITECT: Precise Drafting PROJECT MANAGER: Jim Mizer INTERIOR DESIGNER: Red Door Design House LANDSCAPER: Big Wood Landscaping

•

Great details make a difference like this willow twig kindling drawer by Doug Tedrow of Wood River Rustics.

•

Though it looks like painted wood, this trompe l’oeil front door is clad in copper verdigris.

BY Crystal Lee Thurston PHOTOGRAPHY Todd Kaplan

Met•al

Richard and Jill Blanchard dreamt of of a owning a cabin near

the high peaks of Idaho. In 2006, they discovered their dream location for a home in a remote area in the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains, a place untouched by civilization—and they wanted to preserve it that way.

To find their unique cabin, you have to leave all paved roads behind and meander along an old dirt one for miles, encountering little more than sheepherders and wildflowers, gurgling springs, elk, deer and a majestic view of the Pios, as the range is fondly referred to by the locals.

Suddenly, at the end of the road, way up in the hills, hidden behind a knoll, an old homesteaders cabin is secretly nestled away. But this is more than just a little cabin in the hills.

What appears to be a log cabin is actually a stunning structural achievement—a home crafted entirely with an exterior of rusted metal, Montana stone and added chink lines that gives the illusion of being a historic timber framed cabin because of the color and design. “We felt that being outside of any fire district in the middle of sagebrush, the house had to defend itself from fire so we chose to make the entire exterior non-combustible,” explains draftsman/designer and former fireman David Lister of Precise Drafting, Inc. “It’s unique in that aspect. It’s a first to be totally metal.”

The cabin was framed by Darrell and Mike McKenzie and then clad with steel siding and trim by Brad Baker of Professional Roofing.

Jim Mizer, a local metalworker, developed and applied a special treatment process that accelerated the rusting over a period of weeks until the metal finally resembled rustic wood. A stone porch, framed in rusty structural steel, wraps around three sides of the home, opening onto a 180 degree view of the mountains. Lister remembers walking the site with the Blanchards, “figuring where we could tuck this in where it’s the lowest profile and yet there’s still some great view opportunities.”

This is no mega-McMansion spoiling and dominating the natural landscape. It nestles in naturally, the reddish-brown tones melding into the Idaho earth.

Entering the cozy cabin, a handsome copper verdigris clad front door opens to a homey room serving as living room, dining room and kitchen. The residence, although limited by hillside ordinance to 1,200 square feet, is opened up by a view of the Pioneers from every room.

“When you walk into that main room, it feels like a 100-year-old homesteader’s cabin,” marvels interior designer Marina Broschofsky of Red Door Design House in Hailey. The interior, with a classic Montana ledge stone fireplace topped by a one cut stone mantel, was

noun: a solid material that is typically hard, shiny, malleable, fusible, and ductile, with good electrical and thermal conductivity (e.g., iron, gold, silver, copper, and aluminum, and alloys such as brass and steel).

initially inspired by an interior in the book “Cabin in the Woods” by Ralph Kylloe. There is wood everywhere—fir ceiling, walnut floors and rich dark pine walls. The homesteader’s look continues with the acacia wood coffee table, plaid chairs and antique-style lamps.

The biggest challenge, says Broschofsky, was, “blending the different styles of the owners. Richard Blanchard wanted a rustic cabin in the woods and his wife Jill wanted a bit of modern style and elegance.” She and Jill chose contemporary colors to light up this homesteader’s-style cabin.

So in the kitchen, underneath log rafters that date from the turn of the century, are modern sage green alder cabinets (by David Leslie from Timeless Design Studio), one of which slides open to reveal the dishwasher. A Fisher & Paykel range has a bronze tile backsplash (Rocky Mountain Hardware).

The most striking piece of furniture is the elegant yet rustic cabinet/bookcase created by local artist/craftsman Doug Tedrow of Wood River Rustics. This alder breakfront is bordered in lodgepole pine and embellished with Tedrow’s signature inlaid willow twigs shaped in a Native American teepee motif and accented by beautiful oval turquoise ceramic knobs encircled in silver rope detailing.

The spectacular mountain views are not boasted from the usual huge plate glass windows. Instead, windows are divided into deliberately undersized openings enhancing the wonderful old-style feel.

In the guest bedroom, red painted beds add a contemporary whimsical touch. The master bed is painted an elegant black and topped by aqua seaglass tinted sheets and quilt, surprisingly made of bamboo.

Parchment light shades adorn the bedroom reading lamps. The walls are a warmly painted modern sheetrock while the ceiling has two, finely finished log beams. Wool kilim rugs with native American designs add that modern color scheme again—rust, sage and tan. A sage green armoire is elegantly curved to snuggle into the corner, saving space.

The master bath features a slate floor and a charming clawfoot tub, but maintains that touch of luxury with a modern heated combination bidet/toilet. The Victorian-style hardware is a curved satin nickel.

Lister feels that our Valley has developed an exceptional talent pool of artisans over the years. “This was a dream project to be involved with. It takes a team to pull something like this together,” he said.

Richard Blanchard agrees. “Now we can snap into our bindings and ski or lace our boots and hike up into the hills from our front door,” he said, adding, “and after a good workout we can come back by the fire or watch the sun set from the porch. It has all worked out well.”

Home | sunvalleymag.com 39

BY Mike McKenna PHOTOGRAPHY Five B Studios & Tal Roberts

Con•crete

Sometimes if we’re lucky, what begins as a tragedy can end up as a triumph. The story of the Nasviks’ home, tucked not far from the banks of the Big Wood River, is just such a tale.

On a wintry afternoon in 2009, the Nasviks—Jon and Kate, and their two kids, Nate and Sophie—left their cozy log home in the Zinc Spur neighborhood north of Hailey and went off to go a-sledding. When they returned a short spell later, their home was no longer there to welcome them.

Life as the Nasviks had known it had literally gone up in flames. The main fuse panel for the home had gone awry and within 15 minutes it ignited a roaring blaze that took the fire department 20 hours to extinguish. All that remained were ashes, memories and the front door.

“It was tough,” Jon said in a slightly choked up, soft-spoken voice.

Naturally, the Nasviks were devastated. But they managed to dust themselves off and to realize that the tragedy of losing their home and all their worldly possessions was also an opportunity for some positive changes.

“There was nothing we could do about it. The house was gone.

All our stuff, all the little details of our life, gone,” Jon explained with a tinge of lingering sorrow. “So we went with it as an opportunity to build something that would better meet our lifestyle, something that could fix what didn’t work in our old home. I mean, how often do you get a clean slate to build in the same place you’ve lived for decades?”

And that’s exactly what they did. About a year and a half later they moved back in to an entirely different house; a one-of-kind concrete home that meets all of the Nasviks’ needs, and its most comforting feature­—it’s fire resistance.

“Concrete doesn’t burn,” Jon said, and he should know. Jon has been in the concrete business for more than four decades, including the last 20 years running his business, Cliffhangers, Inc., here in the Wood River Valley. Examples of his stunning work can be seen throughout the Valley and across the country, from the Grand Wailea Hotel on Maui to the Tropical Forrest Pavilion at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. But besides being fire resistant, constructing a house made almost entirely out of concrete also has a number of eco and cost-friendly components. Plus, it gave Jon, a former art major, an opportunity to get creative.

“I wanted to explore new uses for concrete. I really wanted to push the limits,” Jon declared with a boyish grin. “It was a fun experiment.”

Inspired by the creative work of local architect, Mike Brunelle of Brunelle Architects, and builder, John Lee of Lee Gilman Builders, the 40 sunvalleymag.com | Home

noun: A heavy building material made of broken stone or gravel, sand, cement, and water, that can be spread or poured into molds and forming a stone-like mass on hardening.

first experiment involved framing the house, which took a mere two days thanks to a product called SIPS. SIPS, or Structurally Integrated Panels, are factory-manufactured panels in which a foam plastic insulation is sandwiched between two structural skins of oriented strand board. While they cost about as much as traditional wood framed houses, SIPs greatly reduce construction time and waste material. Jon then covered the panels throughout the home, inside and out, with pre-cast, colored and textured, half-inch thick concrete slabs that were poured on a table out in the garage.

“The reason I chose this path was because it gave me complete control over the color, pattern and texture of any space that was made available to me,” Jon said, explaining the attributes of the medium. “The great thing about concrete is that it’s liquid. So it can be almost anything and can take any size, shape, color or texture you want. Then when it dries it’s as solid as rock, relatively maintenance free, maintains temperature well and it’s very durable. This house will last a lot longer than I will.”

From exterior walls that look like fractured slate, to countertops and bathtubs that are as smooth as glass, Jon’s experiments with concrete became more creative as the house progressed. “It was nice to have the freedom to just explore. You’re not going to get too many customers that say, ‘Just go for it!’” Jon said.

Among the more striking artistic expressions Jon created in concrete includes: trout glimmering from broken glass swimming above the stove, which is surrounded by bamboo cabinets built by the Gillman crew; a kitchen counter that looks like marbles were frozen into it; and a Thomas Shrunk inspired wall, which gives color, depth and movement while following a set of free standing stairs up to the open study loft.

Even accidents helped Jon discover new looks and ways to play with his muse. After letting a piece sit too long, it left odd marks. Jon figured out how to control the process, as is displayed in the master bedroom, where a tree is etched into the cream-colored slab. All the bedrooms are south facing, and the house is aglow in natural light.

“It’s an interactive thing for me, a place that is hopefully fun for exploration and discovery. Your house is how you express yourself,” Jon explained. “You want to talk about who you are to anybody walking in without saying a word.” And the Nasviks’ home certainly does that.

You can’t even knock on the front door—the same concrete-based one that was the sole survivor of the old house—without realizing this home has a pretty inspiring love story to tell.

ARCHITECT: Brunelle Architects BUILDER: Lee Gilman Builders INTERIOR DESIGNER: Owner, Jon Nasvik LANDSCAPER: Whitehead Landscaping

•

Wes Walsworth of Walsworth Finishes along with Nate Galpin of Isotope Metal Lab hand-crafted the chairs out of wine barrels.

•

Concrete kinetic wall provides a hollagram effect to the eye.

Inspired by Tom Shrunk and built by Jon Nasvik.

ARCHITECT: Michael Blash BUILDER: Watson Construction LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Jacob Thomas LANDSCAPER: Native Landscaping

•

The use of glass helps expand the interplay of structure and nature.

Thanks to the following contributors to the photo shoot: Architectural Resources/B & B Italia, Gail Severn Gallery, Gilman Contemporary Gallery, Jennifer Bellinger, Ketchum Kitchens, My Home, Picket Fence, Worth Repeating, and Patti Lindberg, ASID .

•

The stairway is built into the 42,000 pound, 11-foot tall, weeping basalt boulder.

BY Adam Tanous PHOTOGRAPHY Tim Brown

Boul•der

“Fallingwater,” the renowned house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, at first glance seems to be resting on nothing, hovering effortlessly above a 30-foot waterfall. It is a design to trick the senses, certainly. But more importantly, it undercuts our notion of gravity and has a way of freeing the imagination.

One experiences a similar unmooring from reality in approaching a Ketchum home designed by architect Michael Blash and built by Watson Construction. With this small (1,800 square feet) riverfront home owned by a young software engineer and Ketchum native (who prefers to remain anonymous), however, it is the roof—actually two roofs designed to mimic the outline of the Sawtooth Mountains—that appear to float on a pillow of air above a structure of steel, stone, and glass. Like “Fallingwater,” the illusion is thrilling, but the lasting effect is to lighten the building, as if to give it flight.

To enter the house proper, one follows a nature path of native landscaping winding to a “cave” entrance of boulders and brown, weather-mottled steel siding. Go through the front door and it feels for a second like an Alice-in-Wonderland moment in which the outside is inside: built into the stairway and front door landing is a 42,000 pound, 11-foot tall, basalt boulder with rivulets of water bubbling out of it and down to the lower floor. There can be few entries as disarming.

The boulder, like all the others used in the house, was tumbled smooth 15,000 years ago when Lake Bonneville—precursor to the Great Salt Lake—broke loose and flooded the Snake River Plain. As it turned out, these “melon gravels” as they are known, became a sort of prehistoric playground for the owner when he was a kid visiting family property near Twin Falls. All of the rocks in the house came from that land along the Snake River. Blash offered that he had a few guidelines, but one “mandatory requirement” was to use that 21-ton rock in the design. Its aesthetic and emotional value aside, the feature also provides a natural indoor humidifier for the otherwise dry Idaho air.

In approaching a new design, Blash said he tries “to capture what the client wants, his personality and cultural background, and the future of the client in the house.” In this case, there were three key themes to be incorporated: the boulders, the surrounding mountains and geothermal water or hot springs. Add to this mix, Blash said, his client “…is young, fun to work with and really thinks outside the box.” Evidence of the latter is in the design of the “grotto,” a hot tub designed to look like a natural hot spring. One enters it by walking down some stairs from a sitting area, swimming through a cave hole and into a lighted hot tub area—not unlike the Blue Grotto on the island of Capri, Italy.

The grotto ties in a fourth theme evident throughout the house:

noun: A large rock, typically one that has been worn smooth by erosion.

the interplay of structure and nature. This concept goes back most famously to Frank Lloyd Wright, and it clearly influenced the owner.

“I had studied the architecture of ‘Fallingwater’ in a class at school, and I visited it while in the process of designing the house,” he said.

“I’ve always been deeply impressed by the artistry of how Frank Lloyd Wright designed the house so that it communicates with and becomes part of the natural surroundings. While unfortunately it wasn’t possible to build my house directly on top of boulders and to leave that stone penetrating through the house like it exists at ‘Fallingwater,’ at least we have all been complimented by the fact that many people have asked whether the house was built around that central boulder.”

Perhaps less visible to the layman’s eye is the diminutive carbon footprint of the home. Indeed, it is a small home in a valley of big homes. More importantly, it was built to comply with Gold Level requirements of LEEDs, the internationally recognized green building certification system. For example, the house is heated with geothermal heat pumps. The temperature differential between the surface and 200 feet underground is used to both heat and cool the house via forced air and radiant concrete floors. And at the base level, the house was constructed with foam blocks—five inches of foam mold filled with six inches of concrete—and foam-filled steel tubes that were then wrapped with insulation. All of the windows were sealed and will be shaded with passive solar shades. “It’s really more like something you’d see in Europe,” Blash said.

Certainly creating a green home demands thoughtful design and construction, but equally important is how energy is managed once the house is built. Conspicuously absent from this house are light switches.

With a background in programming and technology, the owner wanted to be able to manage the house—the lights, media, climate, hot tub, sprinklers, garage, and security system—with his iPhone. Discovering that there wasn’t anything on the market that did what he wanted, he decided to write the program and build the system himself. To that end, there will be iPod touches and iPads throughout the house communicating wirelessly to a central server. Something they don’t have at “Fallingwater.”

In the end, the two and a half year project was not easy. As the owner pointed out, “There were design challenges in doing everything that we wanted to do in the available space. The design Michael created is complex. Rod (Watson), the contractor, was fantastic about always making sure that the work met my and Michael’s approval, and was tireless in making sure we were happy with the final product … I couldn’t be more pleased with what they have created.”

Home | sunvalleymag.com 43

BY Nancy Glick PHOTOGRAPHY Courtney Samway

The Upside of Upcycling Exploring the hot new eco-friendly building trend 44 sunvalleymag.com | Home

•

Two-hundred-year old barn wood beams were used to construct the pergola.

•

Reclaimed beams were milled into a wood-plank countertop. Tractor seats were found at a yard sale and new metal legs were created.

46 sunvalleymag.com | Home

B

uilders and designers are rethinking the way they finish homes. There’s a bounty of raw and neglected materials out there and shifting our views on how materials are sourced can create surprising results. Some builders and designers may even be looking in your dumpster!

Upcycling is the term, and hot new trend, for using materials in a way that is significantly different from their original purpose, but still maintains—and can even increase—their value. There’s no need to sacrifice quality when repurposing materials.

Planned obsolescence and the idea that the economy could only survive if things were not built to last, but to be replaced, is itself becoming obsolete. The challenging economic times and ever-growing awareness about environmental impacts are forcing people and companies to consider new ways of reusing materials traditionally headed for the trash heap.

This growing trend is now reaching far beyond typical goods like glass, metal and plastic. Not only is upcycling often a smart financial move, it can add beauty and value to your home. The green building trend may be in high gear but there is one source that is often overlooked—salvaged supplies!

An Upcycler Josh Glick is a custom homebuilder and partner in Ketchum-based, Bashista Construction Corporation, and he’s also my husband. Well before we met, Josh had the opportunity to acquire a 200-year-old New England barn. He jumped at the chance and quickly rounded up 25 friends and family who spent a week helping him deconstruct, tag, palletize and ship his new—yet old—barn to Idaho.

The original barn stood on a sheep farm in Putney, Vermont, where Josh lived while attending college. No longer standing on its own, it was perfect for his plan. “I’d always dreamed of resurrecting an old structure from an architectural and historical perspective,” says Josh.

Josh’s work, passion and skills are dedicated to timeless design and the dying art of true carpentry, so the “hand made” elements of the

•

Leftover rebar was turned into a rustic railing adding depth and texture to the balcony and stairway.

Josh rescued huge amounts of rock from burial, saved discarded finish wood, degraded structural beams and piles of seemingly useless rebar, and turned them into works of art.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 47

old barn fit his vision perfectly. Growing up in Vermont, he learned about carpentry at a young age. He and his best friend felled trees, hewed them by hand and built “luxury” forts. That’s where he developed a love for the possibilities hidden inside trees.

“Working with Frank (Bashista) for so many years has taught me to continually expand my knowledge and refine my skills. Many of our clients have spent the majority of their lives working toward building their dream homes,” says Josh. “Through those experiences, I learned how to create my own dream.”

When Josh and I met, he was still looking for the perfect property to raise the barn, which had sat idle for three years. Josh spent those years collecting reusable materials—framing components, light fixtures, appliances and lumber—anything he could find from teardowns, demos and remodels that had been earmarked for the trash heap. Many of his co-workers even jokingly called him the “Dumpster Diver” because he routinely crawled into construction dumpsters to pull out materials he thought to save from the landfill.

So it was no surprise to see him crawling in the dumpster to salvage usable materials that I had tossed when it was time to build our house. “It’s not about being a Dumpster Diver, it’s about reducing

items from my house furnishings

The perfect combination of new and used items from My House Furnishings. 1. Reclaimed barnwood table with chairs is new while

the china, lamps and other accessories are consigned items. 2. Custom reclaimed headboard made by Luke from My House Furnishings with new pillows. The red table and lamp are both consignment pieces.

• 2

• 1

if you’re not up on the new lingo:

Upcycling is a much sexier, even greener version of recycling. When something is recycled (or “downcycled”), it’s broken down into something of lesser quality—a process that consumes energy. Upcycling, on the other hand, adds value by transforming or reinventing an otherwise disposable item into something of higher quality. It’s the ultimate in reuse. With all the great upcycling possibilites, recycling hardly even seems cool anymore.

• Precycling: reducing waste by

avoiding items that will generate it, selecting certain items that will generate less or acquiring items that can be reused for something else. Examples include using concentrated products, or going electronic instead of using paper or avoiding excessive packaging.

(For more tips, check out www.greenlivingtips.com) • Sidecycle: my new term for taking rejected materials instead of sending them to the landfill.

48 sunvalleymag.com | Home

• Freecycling: when someone

passes on, for free, an unwanted item to another person who needs that item. (Check out www.freecycle.net) • Closing the Loop: the goal of environmentally-minded design, which uses materials again and again and keeps them out of the garbage heap.

• Superuse or Recyclicity: using things in a significantly different way than they were originally intended.

•

Every element of the fireplace facade is reclaimed or sidecycled. The mantel is part of the 200 year-old barn.

•

Concrete countertops and backsplash create a seamless environment.

•

The bench was a watering trough before it was upcycled.

50 sunvalleymag.com | Home

• 1

“I was able to get a look and feel that I wanted at a price that made sense while making sustainable choices.” –Tara Ooms • 2

• 3

waste and paying attention to what can be used elsewhere,” he said.

“I realized that a lot of materials were tossed out and with a little vision and effort I could create a pile of usable material,” he says.

Regardless of the green narrative, the items that were created are precise pieces of craftsmanship with a rich history. Josh rescued huge amounts of rock from burial, saved discarded finish wood, degraded structural beams and piles of seemingly useless rebar, and turned them into works of art.

An Upcycled Home Now that I was part of Josh’s dream it was important that I didn’t take away from what he had planned. I trusted his vision completely because I’d seen what he was capable of with the homes he’d built for Bashista Construction’s clients.

Our goal was to capture the rustic elements of the original 200-year-old Vermont barn.

Out of necessity, we got creative to get the look we wanted. That’s where Josh’s talent came into play.

For example, even for an untrained eye like mine our trim work appears to be simply great style. But if you look closely, it’s easy to see that strategic imperfections are actually old nail holes where the boards were pulled off the walls of a teardown. continued on page 76

ooms’ upcycling

1. Salvaged windows represent tremendous savings 2. Sidecycled countertops combined with creativity can result in a high quality and a unique look. 3. Reclaimed drawer fronts and drawer pulls result in rustic elegance.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 51

52 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Living Roofs going green is growing to new heights

BY Mike McKenna PHOTOGRAPHY Thia Konig

“It’s beginning to look like roof top gardens are about to catch on in ski towns like Ketchum the same way ‘sick days’ spread after a night of freshly fallen powder.”

1 2

3

4 5

A

lthough the concept has long been popular, especially in urban areas, for some strange reason rooftop gardens usually seem like a rather odd idea to most mountain town folks.

After all, people lucky enough to live in breathtaking valleys like the Big Woods will ask: who needs a garden on the roof when you’re surrounded by Mother Nature’s garden blooming across the top of the world? It’s a good question.

But it turns out there are a few very good answers. For rooftop or “living roofs” not only enhance the natural surroundings, they help buildings become more energy efficient and don’t cost much to install or maintain.

Basically, it’s beginning to look like rooftop gardens are about to catch on in ski towns like Ketchum the same way “sick days” spread after a night of freshly fallen powder.

Seven Wonders The idea of rooftop gardens—which first blossomed when Adam and Eve began picking fruit from their living roof in the Garden of Eden—really became famous around 600 B.C., in what we now know as Iraq.

King Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the world and decided to celebrate by turning his castle into the foundation for a massive liv-

Views Are Important

1. A roof that was once an eyesore, now looks lovely and natural from any angle. 2. The living room view was the inspiration for the living roof.

3. Native flowers were used throughout the landscape. 4. The patio view now offers more than just the mountains in the distance. 5. The living roof blends seemlessly with the landscape from this bedroom view.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 55

ing roof. Trees, grasses and flowers of all sorts were planted among the many tiers of the complex. The plants cast their roots and flowers alongside the palace walls, doors and walkways; allowing those inhabiting the place to see and feel a part of the abundant flora.

It was considered such a spectacular example of living art and horticulture that the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” were one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The popularity of rooftop gardens seems to have waxed and waned ever since. Over the last couple of decades, however, the living roof movement has blossomed in big cities—and the idea has slowly begun to creep into ski towns as well. Whistler’s famous rooftop gardens at the Fairmont Chateau and Nita Lake Lodge are a couple of well-known examples. Snowbird’s verdant rooftops in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon are another. And it appears that Sun Valley just might be growing in that direction.

The Problem James and Ellen Gillespie have a beautiful home on Eagle Creek Road, nestled alongside the Boulder Mountains north of Ketchum.

The home offered spectacular mountain vistas—so long, that is, as you only looked out into the distance. For what was right in front of you was the bland, regular old blacktop roof of the garageturned-guesthouse.

“It was so ugly,” James said, in his fading English accent. “We had to do something.”

Since James is co-owner of Native Landscapes, his thoughts

Roof Species Grasses: Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Idaho Fescue, Sandberg Bluegrass Native Perennials: Western yarrow, Penstemon strictus, Pestemon venustus, Penstemon pinifolia, Penstemon eatoni, Penstemon fruiticosus, Blue Flax, Sticky Geranium, Pussytoes, Snowy Buckwheat, Parsnip Buckwheat, Ulphur Buckwheat, Cushion Buckwheat, Scarlet Gilia Shrubs: Black Sagebrush, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Green Rabbitbrush Non-Natives: Yellow yarrow, Wooly Thyme, Salvia ‘maynight’.

Flowers

1. Rosy Pussytoes 2. Blue Flax 3. Common Yarrow 4. Rocky Mountain Penstemon

Builders of Quality Custom Homes for 30 years

208.726.2440 • www.dembergh.com Photo: Kevin Syms

56 sunvalleymag.com | Home

1

2

3

4

Home | sunvalleymag.com 57

turned towards a more natural solution. He and his business partner, long-time and well-respected Valley gardener, Kelley Weston, decided to replace the eyesore by doing a case study on creating a living roof of native, high desert plants at the impressive elevation of 6,500.’ Designed by Karen Sherrerd of Habitat Landscape Architecture and installed by Native Landscapes, two years later, the study was a success.

“We are thrilled with the results,” James said, as spring began to sprout across his rooftop. “It has literally solved all of our problems. This was an experiment and a very successful one.”

The Solution “We used proven systems,” Kelley said, explaining that they did, however, have to take some experimental leaps. “The challenge was that we couldn’t find examples of anyone using this kind of plant pallet in this kind of climate and elevation.”

To assure that the rooftop garden would blend in with the natural landscape, they used a pallet consisting almost exclusively of Rocky Mountain native plants. They planted native grasses like Bluebunch wheatgrass and Idaho fescue, shrubs like black sage and green rabbitbrush, perennials like Western yarrow, sticky geranium and a handful of different varieties of penstemon. Sedum, the most common and controversial rooftop plant, didn’t make the cut.

With weight being the biggest issue for rooftop gardens, they chose to go with a Hydrotech Living Roof system (see: sidebar), which kept

things well within local weight codes. So for the mere cost of just $13 a square-foot to install, the once ugly roof has become resplendent.

“It’s a success story. It’s really done well,” Kelley said. “We can now go out with confidence and know that this works and it offers a lot of benefits. Heck, if you can grow it on a roof at this elevation, you can pretty much grow it anywhere.”

As an added bonus to the native beauty now blooming on what was once an eyesore, the living roof has dramatically helped reduce the costs to heat the guest room in winter and cool it in summer.

The soil and plants help the building retain temperatures much better than the old roof did.

“It feels good to do something like this. We don’t have to use lots of water or chemicals. It looks much better and has dramatically cut down the costs of controlling the temperatures in the room below it. It didn’t cost very much to do or maintain,” James said with a big smile.

With testimonial like that there’s no wonder why living roofs are certain to soon start popping up in ski towns. For even in breathtaking mountain towns like Ketchum, vistas sometimes disappear for a spell during summer storms or winter snow flurries. Leaving the only views those close by, like the rooftop right in front of you, which no longer has to look so … well, unnatural.

As author Michael Pollen reminds us in his best-selling book, “The Botany of Desire,” “Letting nature have her way with us now and again still seems like a useful thing to do, if only to bring our abstracted gaze back down to Earth for a time.”

BRUNELLE a r c h i t e c t s

photo Eric Kiel

Y O U R VISION realized

Brunelle Architects.com

58 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Nasvik Residence

Annuals, Perennials, Small Woody Plants

The Science

Lifetop Semi-Intensive Media (6”-10”)

The Hydrotech Living Roof system is a multilayered support system including a root barrier, protection board and a water-retention, recycling and draining system.

Piled on top of that is 6 inches of manufactured soil engineered to weigh less and hold more water.

The plants then pile onto that and do their things. All together it weighs less than 35 pounds per square foot. Local code requires roofs to hold 80 pounds of snow load per square foot.

The Gillespie’s living roof was put together in less than a week and requires little annual maintenance.

Systemfilter Gardendrain GR30 or GR50 (filled with light weight aggregate) Styrofoam Insulation Hydroflex RB II or Hydroflex 30 & Root Stop HD Substrate (concrete, gypsum board, plywood)

A place called home...

PHOTOGRAPHY: KIRK ANDERSON

511 SUN VALLEY ROAD SUITE 202 KETCHUM, ID 83340 TEL 208.726.4031 FAX 208.726.4097

www.jarvis-group.com

Home | sunvalleymag.com 59

at home // designer showcase

Room Service Five local designers describe the details of their favorite rooms

BY Patti Murphy

Most of us have a favorite room in our home. You know that one special space where we feel cozy and safe. The perfect spot where we can cuddle up in a down quilt and read a good book or magazine, or where the sunlight bathes every corner inspiring us to paint a picture, write a letter or put a puzzle together on a leisurely day. Maybe it’s the kitchen, where comfort food, friends and family linger and memories are made, or the relaxing solitude of the bath that restores and renews our energy at the end of a long day.

So what rooms do interior designers appreciate? We asked five local professionals to show us some favorite rooms they’ve created, to tell us what inspired them and to offer up some tips on how to bring it all together.

Jennifer Hoey Smith

Jennifer Hoey Interior Design www.jenniferhoey.com The inspiration: The owners of this new home in Timber Gulch wanted their master bath done in a neutral palette, which in less capable hands could have resulted in a ho-hum space. But, Jennifer Hoey Smith saw it as a perfect opportunity to use a variety of textures throughout the luxurious lavatory to add interest and create “aha” details around every corner.

The ideas: Clean, uncluttered lines and interesting details are the name of the game in this stunning bathroom. The neutral palette led Smith to find ways to create layers of interesting textures and details. “For example the shower tile is three-dimensional and is ribbed all the way down. I then used a very smooth limestone on the bathroom floor and carried that into the shower. I kept the lines clean by not using a curb to transition between a shower and the bathroom,” she explains.

Smith worked with the builder to design the slightest quarter-inch drop in the floor into the shower to drain away the water, and installed a frameless glass shower enclosure to maintain the seamless feel of the room. Another out-of-the-box idea by Smith was to install a shaving ledge in the shower rather than an entire bench.

The large ceiling-to-floor windows looking out onto private gardens inspired Smith to install a large freestanding bathtub in front of the windows, angled in such a way that the bather would have a full view of the mountain peaks outside. “One of the premises of this house was to be able to connect all the spaces with the outdoors,” says Smith Another strong focal point is the custom-made vanity designed by Smith. It features a black and steel face frame that integrates with vertical grain American black walnut cabinetry.

60 sunvalleymag.com | Home

“Any bathroom can have a marble countertop and walnut cabinets, but it is the extra detail that makes it special.”

—Jennifer Hoey Smith

Smith then dressed it with Rocky Mountain Hardware and a Carrera marble countertop, and designed mirrors framed in the same blackened steel. A window over the vanity looks out to the home’s entry and, adding yet another interesting texture, Smith designed a set of walnut screens that recess neatly and completely into the walls when more light is desired, or can be closed for more privacy.

courtesy jennifer hoey

Tips: “When working in a modern setting like this, the cleaner the better,” she says of the project, which took her two years to complete. “It’s all in the details. That’s what pulls this look off. It looks so clean and interesting because of all the details we considered.

“Any bathroom can have a marble countertop and walnut cabinets, but it is the extra detail that makes it special,” Smith explains.

“The angling of the tub in a certain way, the textured tiles and the black metal framing that shapes the vanity. They are things you may not notice right away and you might not be able to put your finger on, but when you walk in, you feel it.”

About: Clean lines and elegant spaces consistently identify Jennifer Hoey Smith’s work.

A nationally licensed interior designer she holds a certificate from the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).

Home | sunvalleymag.com 61

at home // designer showcase

“A home is to live in. If a room doesn’t invite you in, I’ve failed to do my job.”

—Bruce Martin

Bruce Martin

Bruce Martin Interiors www.brucemartininteriors.com The Inspiration: Bold colors, natural stone and reclaimed wood feature prominently in this mountain guesthouse. “I wanted to melt the house into the landscape and create something with an organic feel. I wanted to keep it in touch with its surroundings,” Martin explains.

The Ideas: Bright red wall hangings, a rich red beehive fireplace and a custom orange leaf print velvet sofa provide interesting shocks of color throughout. The sofa’s print is reminiscent of the forests of aspens in the area. “We did the cushions in velvet, and the sofa in a simple linen so the two textures would work together to not overwhelm the room,” says Martin. “The key is to get a nice flavor without having to eat the whole piece.”

Light-colored walls, chrome and leather chairs and contemporary art offset and complement the room’s heavier elements. “We also created a lanai feeling with a large glass opening at the front of the house that they can open in the summertime,” says Martin. “A home is to live in. If a room doesn’t invite you in, I’ve failed to do my job.”

Tips: Martin blends elements of various styles together. In this room, he used reclaimed wood to fashion cabinet doors and furniture, and then paired that rustic feel with more contemporary furniture and art pieces.

About: With more than 26 years of experience, Bruce Martin is known for his use of natural materials such as stone, wood, cotton, wool and other such elements in his designs.

62 sunvalleymag.com | Home

courtesy bruce martin

Experience Ruby Springs Lodge.

Fly fish some of Montana’s most storied rivers and private-access spring creeks.

Revel in superb cuisine and beautifully-appointed riverside cabins. Lose yourself in a classic Montana landscape. www.rubyspringslodge.com info@rubyspringslodge.com 800-278-RUBY (7829)

moRe tHaN juSt fiReplaceS

+ + =

Fireplaces eTc 515 N. River Street, Hailey 208.578.2184

www.welovefire.com

“A guest room is only used a few nights at a time, so you can make it more playful. The key is to make it very welcoming for your guests.”

—Susan Seder

Susan Seder

Fox Creek Interiors www.foxcreekinteriors.com

tal roberts / kevin syms

The Inspiration: A large, room-sized canvas teepee erected on the designer’s own sprawling property alongside the rushing Big Wood River provided the perfect decorating inspiration for—what else—Cowboys and Indians, of course! “Being in here makes people feel like a kid,” says designer and owner Susan Seder. “Our guests always tell us they don’t want to leave.”

The Ideas: “When I do a room, I start with one fabric,” Seder says. “For this room I started with a beautiful Ralph Lauren bed quilt that had Indians and teepees on it. From those colors it grows into the rest of the room and you find things to coordinate with that.”

Seder chose a hefty log bed as the main piece of furniture, and covered it in bed fabrics that complement the quilt. On each side of the bed she placed a rustic nightstand with lamp (yes, the teepee has electricity) for her guest’s nighttime reading. Seder has also included in the cozy space a small coffee table on which guests could lay their luggage, a coat rack to serve as a closet and a comfortable stuffed chair that Seder had refurbished and reupholstered with a Native American-style blanket. She has also added to the room’s coziness quotient by supplying several warm throws for chilly Idaho nights.

“The impression I get from people when they walk in is they are surprised to see a full guest room,” she says.

Seder points out that sunlight filtering through the canvas teepee walls can be quite strong and will fade fabrics quickly, so she

has covered several pillows and a banquet seating area in sturdy, brightly colored indoor/outdoor fabric.

Tips: Creating a comfortable guest room doesn’t have to be expensive. Seder found the nightstands and a coat rack at the local Antique Peddler’s Fair. “I live at that place,” she says. The stuffed chair came from a second hand store, and harmonizing items such as pillows, candles and rugs are simple ways to tie a room together. Fresh cut flowers in a guest room also create a warm environment.

“In a guest room you can use more colors than you might in your master bedroom, which you want to be serene since you spend so much time there,” she says. “A guest room is only used a few nights at a time, so you can make it more playful. The key is to make it very welcoming for your guests and make sure they have all their needs met.”

About: Susan Seder has been an interior designer for 30 years and is co-owner of the Sun Valley Design Center. She specializes in the decorative arts, specifying the details of window coverings, furniture, bedding and accessories.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 65

Asian Artifacts | Home Furnishings Architectural Elements 18-22k Gold Jewelry

at home // designer showcase

“Interiors really need to have specific lighting for fabrics and furniture to stand out and be complemented.”

—Connie Hagestad

Connie Hagestad and Janet Krough

The Design Studio, Inc. www.thedesignstudio-sv.com

RUGS MADE FOR THE AMERICAN WEST

DAVIES REID 131 First Ave. North Ketchum, ID 83340 208.726.3453 daviesreidketchum@me.com our other locations include Jackson | Park City | Maui

The Inspiration: With a killer view overlooking Ketchum’s Main Street, this penthouse office provided a perfect space in which the owner could conduct both serious business and host not-so-serious social gatherings. “He enjoyed entertaining there, and especially liked to be able to go out on the patio when the parade came down Main Street,” says designer Connie Hagestad. “We wanted to create a room where people would feel sophistication and warm luxury when they were in the room, but also make it functional and inviting.”

The Ideas: “Our client wanted both a large desk for work and an entertainment area. We had a heavily carved desk custom made and placed it as the focal point at one end of the room and then balanced it with an upholstered wall and entertainment system at the other end of the room,” says Hagestad.

Hagestad and Krogh first picked the fabrics, and then came up with a few suggested 66 sunvalleymag.com | Home

color schemes. Their client wanted to go with dark colors offset by lighter shades and decided to go with dark browns and light greens.

All the furniture in the room was custom made, and Hagestad and Krogh personally came up with the design for the unique bar that features exotic veneer wood and a striking slab of onyx as its countertop. “The onyx on the bar is a beautiful jade green with a touch of rust and browns and creams, and the light transmits through certain sections,” Hagestad says. “So we also created some up lighting that would enhance the color of the stone.”

kevin syms / tim brown

Tips: “Interiors really need to have specific lighting for fabrics and furniture to stand out and be complemented,” explained Hagestad, whose company also designed all the interior lighting for the office space. “There is a difference between ambient and task lighting and indoor and outdoor light and it all needs to be balanced.”

Hagestad recommends using dimmers to ensure a room’s overhead lighting isn’t too intense. She notes that many times kitchens have overhead lighting in recessed ceiling cans, in addition to under-cabinet lights, “both put out very different light and create a different feel.”

Hagestad notes that when selecting colors, samples should be taken to the location and light in which they will be used. “You always need to take carpet, paint and your fabrics into the space you’re going to put it in. The light in a showroom or store is totally different than the light in your own location,” she says.

Hagestad and Krogh upholstered one wall in fabric to absorb the sound from the entertainment center. “As much as people don’t like having window treatments block their view, they are very helpful in reducing noise,” she says. “You don’t want harsh reflective sounds, especially in tall great rooms.”

About: Opened in 1987, The Design Studio provides project coordination, preliminary planning and specifications for construction. As they say, “We listen to your ideas, understand your needs, and will manage your whole project.”

Home | sunvalleymag.com 67

at home // designer showcase

Anneta Glavin

Top Notch Fine Furnishings and Interior Design www.topnotchonline.com The Inspiration: A log house in the Wood River Valley owned by a client who loves Western décor and wanted the feel of an Idaho mountain lodge was the inspiration for a bedroom that features rich natural fabrics, hefty but sophisticated furniture and touches of special details.

“Although this is a Western room, it is really pretty, more like a sophisticated Western lodge,” said designer Anneta Glavin. A variety of textures and materials, including suede leather fabrics, wrought iron, rich wood and even a touch of crystal, were used to create a rustic and refined hideaway.

The Ideas: The starting point of the room was designing the bed, which is custom made from alder wood and features a large headboard with delicate hand carved leaves.

“It’s a large and heavy piece, but it’s also very pretty and textural,” says Glavin. “It doesn’t feel like some guy went out and cut some logs and put a bed together.”

Glavin says the owners like to read in bed, so she had two large alder night stands created to hold a pair of tall handcrafted wrought iron lamps. The light fixtures are topped with laced leather shades and feather tiebacks. Metal stud insets and a slightly sanded surface give the nightstands a worn mountain lodge look.

Throughout the room, small touches create continuity and details of interest. For example, the bedding, throw pillows and draperies are all fringed in a unique twisted deer hide. Atop the draperies are buttons made from antlers, a detail which is repeated on the soft leather Euro shams.

Faux wall paint creates a soft suede-like look and picks up the natural feel of the room. “Faux paint is so much more interesting. It softens it, adds interest and makes the wall become something special,” says Glavin.

To add a bit of romance, crystal prisms were incorporated in the design of the heavy iron chandelier that hangs from the rustic woodplanked ceiling. “The crystals glow in the light and add another unexpected soft element to a western environment,” Glavin explains.

68 sunvalleymag.com | Home

courtesy top notch/kevin syms

“I think one of the mistakes people make is putting everything they love in a room, and then when it’s all done thinking, ‘Wow this didn’t come together at all.’”

—Anneta Glavin

Tips: Glavin recommends finding furniture that is big and textural, “Everything in this room had to have a bit of weight to it, especially to balance that heavy wood ceiling.”

She cautions that it is easy to go overboard when creating a room theme. “I think one of the mistakes people make is putting everything they love in a room, and then when it’s all done thinking, ‘Wow this didn’t come together at all.’ The elements in this room all relate to each other,” she notes.

“We pulled from the natural elements that exist in our area—deer hide, antlers, the twiggy motif on the headboard,” she says.

“The home is in a natural setting and the owners love bringing the great outdoors in and surrounding themselves with it. They wanted this to be a special room. It’s definitely Western but it’s prettier.”

About: Established in 1975, Topnotch Furniture and Interior Design provides a unique collection of home furnishings, featuring handcrafted items from the Northwest and around the world. They specialize in helping clients create custom designed furniture, which is then built to specification.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 69

craftsmen // profiles

craftsmen

BY Hailey Tucker

The Art of Balance // The Art of Transparency // The Art of Vision //

70 sunvalleymag.com | Home

at work

“I built things because I had to, not because I was trying to make money.”

recent projects:

“Timeless Portal” in Roberta McKercher Park

philosophy:

To make sculpture for the sake of art— plain and simple.

kirsten shultz

The Art of Balance // Mark Stasz Sculptor Mark Stasz said he feels an innate need to create and construct. When he sees objects he finds intriguing, he immediately begins thinking of the things he could make with them.

Stasz recognized his desire to build early in life, and took interest in the world of pottery.

But after taking an elective welding class during his time at Alfred University in western New York, he never touched clay again. And although Stasz is happy to be making a living off his art, he insists that it has never been his reason for creating it.

“Building is one of my outlets. Normally if I went more than two weeks without building a piece, I started to twitch. That’s one of the reasons I’ve built so many pieces … I built things because I had to, not because I was trying to make money,” Stasz said.

A quarter century after moving to the Valley in pursuit of a place where he and his art could thrive, Stasz has made a name for himself. With more than 450 sculptures across the country, he has produced more pieces by age 46 than some artists will in their entire lives.

Stasz’s geometric steel and stone sculptures are distinct with their ability to make the mind question concepts of balance, weight and scale.

His massive structures nimbly suspend slabs of stone, often weighing upward of a few hundred pounds, high in the air as though they were crafted of Styrofoam instead of granite, travertine or some other rock. His newer pieces tease

the imagination with asymmetrical, top-heavy forms that appear as though they should cause each structure to topple over at any moment.

Stasz said he makes sculpture for the sake of art—plain and simple. He said people often ask him what a piece means and that his honest answer is, “I don’t know.”

“My gift is to be able to build what goes on in my head. Now if you ask me what it is that goes on in my head, my answer that I’ve come up with is simply—it’s my experiences in life. I’m not necessarily trying to say anything.

It’s not about war. It’s not about peace. I mean maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Subconsciously it could be about the 24-inch rainbow [trout] I caught the other day,” Stasz jokes. “But I build art for art. It’s about lines. It’s about negative forms. It’s about positive forms. It’s about mass, precariousness, balance, and it’s simple.”

One of Stasz’s most recognized local pieces is “Timeless Portal,” a sculpture the City of Hailey commissioned in 2010. The piece is located in Roberta McKercher Park and, like most of his commissioned works, is a site-specific sculpture.

Stasz explained that he sees his family in the piece as well as a river, mountains and a blossoming. Despite seeing these concepts when looking at the piece now, he said he wasn’t trying to convey them when he built it.

Despite Stasz’s success in finding the precarious balance in his sculptures, difficulties with the business side of being an artist have

brought him to a turning point in his life.

With the economic recession, fewer people have the resources to purchase art, and with two children and his wife, Meagan, all partially reliant on his income, Stasz is struggling with a new kind of balance.

“It’s unfortunate, the economy right now.

But I guess it’s also a learning curve. It will provide some very knowledgeable information for the future, right?” Stasz asked, then added with a chuckle, “live and learn.”

Stasz has come close to losing the equilibrium between creating art solely for art’s sake, while still providing for his family. He said he and his family are planning to move to California in hopes of finding a better balance there.

“When I moved in here, it really opened up a lot of avenues,” Stasz said about the studio he has occupied in Bellevue over the last 18 years.

“And the next space will open up more avenues as well. You need change and well, maybe I’ve become a little stagnant in here. I think, even though it’s not the most pleasant position I’ve been in, the economy has forced me to see things in a different way, and I think the results are going to be a positive avenue.”

Stasz said where he lives has always influenced his work, so he is excited to see what new inspiration that move will give him.

For More Images

home and garden

{ www.sunvalleymag.com } Home | sunvalleymag.com 71

“Glass is very, very honest, and I guess the amazing thing about it is that if I’ve done my job correctly, you almost don’t even notice that it’s there.”

•

Think this is cool?

Check out the entire project on page 42.

The Art of Transparency // Steen Sorenson

recent projects:

Glass staircase, an in-house waterfall, intricate skylights and sinks that hold aquariums.

philosophy:

His craft has taught him patience. He must give every movement, reach and cut a different level of thought than other crafts require.

72 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Steen Sorenson is a magician.

In his 35-foot-tall warehouse of an office, he works diligently to make things seemingly disappear. Walls, chairs, ceilings or doors.

If you can dream it, Sorenson will do his damnedest to make it vanish before your eyes.

Sorenson’s art is transparency, and he is always looking for ways to push the limits on what he can do with his building material of choice—glass.

As the president of Glass Masters, a specialty glasswork shop in Ketchum, Sorenson could not have chosen a more fitting title for his business. He is nothing less than a master of the fragile substance.

With a résumé that showcases a glass staircase, an in-house waterfall, intricate skylights and sinks that hold aquariums, there seems to be little he cannot mold the brittle material into.

“I think that [the workers at Glass Masters] have such a diverse knowledge of all

types of glasses and plastics that there’s not a whole lot that we wouldn’t be able to come up with an answer for,” Sorenson said.

Sorenson started working with glass in his late teens as a temporary job to save some cash while he was trying to find a path he could pursue in college. But after moving to the Valley in 1980 and learning to cut glass, he never went back to school.

Sorenson said the combination of the passion he discovered both for glass and for Ketchum have kept him here ever since.

“When I moved to this community, I found it so inspiring that there were so many other dedicated crafts people in the building industry,” Sorenson said. “It sort of overwhelmed me with interest because of the types of clients and the challenges that we have in this community.

It kept it so interesting that I think it kind of made me want to stay.”

Since founding Glass Masters in 1990,

tim brown

craftsmen // profiles

Sorenson’s company has employed as many as 35 glaziers at a time, and Sorenson himself has produced so many pieces, he said he lost count years ago.

Over time, Sorenson said he and his coworkers have done their best to build a reputation of quality and creative glasswork.

“We’ve really made an effort here to make this the most well-orchestrated glass shop in Idaho and possibly the Western United States,” Sorenson said.

One of the steps Sorenson took to help guarantee his products would be top-notch was purchasing an Italian Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine to cut glass. One of only a handful in the U.S. used for glasswork, his CNC machine helps cut glass with an accuracy rarely matched by hand.

When a project requires a piece of glass to fit into a space, the importance of the accuracy of a cut becomes apparent with glass’s unforgiving and inflexible nature.

And although Sorenson acknowledges and appreciates the cutting errors the CNC can help to avoid, Sorenson said he still loves to cut glass by hand when he can.

“I like to physically cut glass with a glass cutter,” he said with a smile. “30 years later, I still find it absolutely fascinating. It’s just incomprehensible that a small scoring process on top of a piece of glass, no matter how thick it is, actually will result in the piece breaking where you intended it to.”

Sorenson’s attraction to the basic work of his craft is equally matched by his fascination with the material.

“Glass is very, very honest, and I guess the amazing thing about it is that if I’ve done my job correctly, you almost don’t even notice that it’s there,” Sorenson said.

In his many years of working with glass, Sorenson said he still continues to learn something new every day.

With drawers larger than king-sized mattresses and 50,000-pound boxes filled to the brim with delicate glass surrounding him at work, Sorenson said his craft has taught him patience. Sorenson must give every movement, reach and cut a different level of thought than other crafts require. Unlike more durable materials, bumping a table in Sorenson’s workshop can be the restart button on an entire project.

But the patience and meticulousness are what give Sorenson’s work its magic. The fragility is what makes his pieces seem unfathomable to create, and the seamlessness of the assembly takes them to a level that is nothing short of phenomenal.

Home | sunvalleymag.com 73

ALLOW US TO CREATE ARCHITECTURE UNIQUE TO YOUR IDAHO LIFESTYLE

View a representative portfolio online at www.sunvalleyarchitect.com 208-622-4656 A Heritage Of Award-Winning Mountain Architecture For Over 25 Years Citation Award Winner 2010 Honor Awards Program Idaho AIA • Member American Institute of Architects

FREE SVM TOTE!

Get a free SVM shopping tote (while supplies last) when you subscribe ONLINE.

{

{

2 year subscription....$28 3 year subscription....$45

Tote offer applies to two and three year subscriptions only.

www.sunvalleymag.com

craftsmen // profiles

hailey tucker

“I think that good design is simple, and when you see good design and it’s really simple, it looks effortless but I promise you it’s not.”

•

Love this bar?

Check out the Before & After on the Cornerstone remodel on page 24.

The Art of Vision // michael doty

recent projects:

Cornerstone Bar, Roxy’s Grocery, Hailey-branch Marketron

philosophy:

To try and create design that affects people, whether it’s on a conscious or subconscious level.

74 sunvalleymag.com | Home

Michael Doty is not the average craftsman.

His work does not take place in a shop or utilize a hammer, saw or chisel. Doty’s craft demands him to be a master in the practices of drawing, writing, math, design and computer modeling. But more than anything, Doty’s craft requires vision.

Doty is an architect and his ultimate goal is to help people figure out how they live and then translate that into what type of space can complement their lifestyle. Doty’s job is to take a broad idea and bring it to life with details people love but didn’t even know they wanted.

At age 54, Doty has owned his own architecture firm in the Valley for 18 years and worked in the field long before that. In that time, his vision has been a part of the design of more than 200 buildings in the area.

Although Doty’s work does not have a signature style, he puts great emphasis on creating spaces that are meant to emanate a cohesive feeling, whether it be of comfort or of the owner’s personal style.

“Architecture is one of those things that doesn’t go away,” Doty said. “You can’t put a bag on it. You can’t hide it, and so it’s one of those things where you’re trying to do the best you can to keep the thought clear through the entire process so that the whole concept really resonates.

In the end, the concept may not be readable to some people, but you want it to be feelable.”

Some of the projects Doty is particularly proud of include The Cornerstone Bar and Grill in Ketchum, the Hailey-branch Marketron building and the remodel of the old Williams grocery store into Roxy’s, which opened in the spring of 2011.

Doty said all three buildings are what he considers examples of effective design and ideas that made a successful leap from imagination to reality.

Successful design in Doty’s mind is not only something people see and like, but something that changes the way they live.

“Unfortunately people know more about their car than they do their own house sometimes … You spend so much of your life

Rustic, Elegant & Fire Resistive Steel and natural stone are the only materials used on the exterior of this new residence in the style of a historic cabin • Architectural and Structural Drafting • Field Measuring and As-Built Drawings • Construction Administration & Owner’s Representative Services

1/2 Page Vertical

Author photo: Kirsten Shultz

Serving Owners, Architects and Contractors

Sun Valley Story Sun Valley Story O The Written by Van Gordon Sauter, with a foreword by Clint Eastwood, this stunning 1/6 Page Horizontal

by Van Gordon Sauter

Foreword By

Clint Eastwood

n the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Sun Valley’s founding, respected journalist, distinguished television executive, and renowned raconteur Van Gordon Sauter tells the remarkable story of the transformation of a remote Idaho mountain valley into America’s first luxury ski resort and, eventually, one of the country’s most beloved year-round vacation retreats. His fascinating anecdotal history is constructed around the personal passions and signal contributions of the resort’s three successive owners: New York aristocrat and Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman, Los Angeles land developer and Olympic skier Bill Janss, and self-made Salt Lake City oil man and hotel magnate Earl Holding. Sauter lavishes special attention on recounting how Harriman’s founding vision was, with breathtaking alacrity over eleven months in 1936, translated into the unique, opulent, and acclaimed reality that formed the enduring base for the spectacular resort we know today.

coffee table book contains previously unpublished vintage images, as well as lavish four-color photographs from the last decade that define Sun Valley today.

“This book captures the magic and the tradition and a whole lot more."

— Clint Eastwood

Home | sunvalleymag.com 75

208.720.3448 • dlister@precisedraftinginc.com

The

Van Gordon Sauter, former president of CBS News and Fox News, began his journalism career as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and the Chicago Daily News, covering Vietnam and the civil rights movement (including the riots in Newark, Detroit, and Chicago). He later became Paris bureau chief for CBS News. Sauter has written two nonfiction books and numerous magazine articles. He was also chairman of the California Boxing Commission. Sauter now lives in Chicago and Ketchum, Idaho, with his wife, Kathleen Brown, former treasurer of California and currently an investment banker in Chicago.

Mandala Media, LLC www.mandala-media.com

PRECISE DRAFTING, INC.

Nikul Shah Photography

inside and indoors, and people don’t think about the design and what that means to them or that good design can make them feel better about life in general or help them have a better day,” Doty said.

The idea that design has an impact is what drives Doty to push his architecture beyond basic walls and windows.

In the Cornerstone, Doty said he wanted customers to have a high level experience from the moment they walked in until the moment they left. To him, this meant no space would be neglected in the design process.

“You can go into the bathrooms there and have the same experience entering the bathroom that you did when you walked in the front door,” Doty said.

To try and create design that affects people, whether it’s on a conscious or subconscious level, Doty’s design process requires a great deal of thought. He said the main task for an architect is to be a problem solver.

Like doing a puzzle, he considers it his job to figure out how to make an array of often unrelated details and ideas come together into one unified piece.

“You start with infinite possibilities, and you systematically start removing the chaos,” Doty said. “You know, chaos wants to win the day. Simplicity is where you’re trying to get. I think that good design is simple, and when you see good design and it’s really simple, it looks effortless but I promise you it’s not.”

Doty spends much of his time researching to keep up-to-date on the ever-changing variety of materials and technologies he can offer his clients. He said that one of the major challenges of his job is simply filtering through all of the options available.

“In my eyes, for people in this profession, we’re on a fairly steep, continual learning curve. It’s not necessarily about what we do, but how we do it and what we do it with,” he said. “You need to continue to push the envelope, but if you’re out on the bleeding edge, it can be risky and the stakes are high.”

Knowing the endless possibilities and then having the vision to determine which are best suited for the client is what makes Doty a craftsman. Although his hands may not be calloused from hours in the shop, his final products demand the same attention to detail and mastery as any other work of art.

Mandala Media, LLC

Splendidly endowed by both nature and culture, Sun Valley and its environs are surrounded by four magnificent mountain ranges (one incorporating Bald Mountain, regarded by many as the premier ski mountain in the world) that are watered by four diverse, revered fishing streams, their beauty protected forever by virtue of their abiding largely on federal lands. It possesses a colorful history that includes Native Americans, fur trappers, late19th-century miners and railroaders, early-20thcentury sheep barons, and, since the 1930s, a low key but glamorous life that has drawn not only the top European and domestic figures in the sport of skiing but also the rich, the celebrated, and the accomplished—among them Ernest Hemingway and Marilyn Monroe, the founders of Facebook and Microsoft, and the author of this book’s foreword, Clint Eastwood, to name a few—to this exceptional place. Complementing Sauter’s lively text is an offering of stunning vintage and contemporary images, many of them fresh to print, that capture the landscape, the history, and the individuals that have and continue to make Sun Valley an American original.

Two restored historic films: “Sun Valley Skiing” and “Moon oVer Sun Valley” are included on DVD in the special Limited Edition.

– John R. Lane

Available November 2011 at local bookstores and shops

www.sunvalleyhistory.com

boy’s Dream w o C A BED AND BREAKFAST

continued from page 51

Stop and Relax Awhile . . .

Alamo • Nevada • 775.725.3500 www.cowboysdream.com

Branching Out 788-9690

The Valley’s Only Specialty Nursery

Drought Tolerant & Cold Hardy Ornamental Trees • Shrubs Grasses • Perennials

Creative Landscape Design & Installation Hardscapes Irrigation Systems Maintenance www.branchingoutsunvalley.com Birch & Main St., Bellevue, ID 83313

All we did was sand, stain and nail them up.

One of our favorite parts of the house came to us by accident. We were wandering through Brown Building Supply, a building material thrift store in Spokane, Washington, and we both stopped at a stack of rusty old rebar that was the perfect length for our balusters. Not a word was spoken but there was a look of, Could we? Should we? Did we? You bet we did. It was the perfect look to complement the exposed barn beams, some of which run the full 52-foot length of the house. We weren’t so much brilliant as we were open-minded, with a vision of what we wanted to do.

The kitchen counter and bar consists of two reclaimed beams. The beams were milled into two sections that we distressed by pounding, hammering, chaining and gouging with anything that would leave a mark.

After building the main house we had several stacks of wood left from the barn. We looked to the outside and instead of a perfectly shaped pergola, we utilized the old barn beams and knee braces to create a unique structure that brings texture and character to the exterior.

There is a lot of history in this new house.

Every room has a story. Even the desk where Josh drew the plans for the house is upcycled.

Several years before the house came to fruition, he took what would have been someone else’s firewood and built his desk. The table legs are old fence posts from the former Felix’s Restaurant in Ketchum.

For every upcycled detail you see, there are just as many reclaimed elements beneath the surface. True upcycling is taking the pieces that would traditionally be considered waste during the manufacturing process and using them in other areas to add value. We saved a substantial amount of money in places that go unnoticed by using the scraps that I was going to toss as blocking in the framing process.

I think I need to coin a new term, “sidecycle.” Many of the things in our home are perfectly good materials, yet they were rejected from the original project. Thus, they don’t qualify as upcycled materials. For example, our bathrooms have beautiful top-of-the-line 76 sunvalleymag.com | Home

key tips to successful upcycling:

One of the reasons we were so successful in our effort to reuse salvaged materials is because we planned ahead. The ideal scenario of any home construction project is planning and having the entire team in place when the ideas are still being scratched out on a napkin.

• Keep an open mind when looking

© Durston Saylor Photography

to upcycle because items that you would never think could work in your home can be a perfect addition, like the rebar balusters we used.

• Plan ahead when you make a

purchase to what its second use could be. Even items as simple as cloth napkins can make an impact because when they are done being used as napkins they can wash the windows or become a kitchen towel or used to check the oil in the car before they get tossed.

• Ask local companies if they have

any rejected items that you could get for a good price. For example, glass companies for shower doors, welders for a fire screen or cabinet shops for any rejects. This is a great way to get custom work for a good price and typically the source is happy to get rid of it.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for

assistance if you need it. Like Sarah from My House Furnishings, she helped us change the look of our house using most of our own furnishings and adding just enough to make it flow.

Discover your inner Sun Valley A R BO N I E S K I N G V L O C K A R C H I T E C T S

w w w. a k v p c . c o m 203.483.9900

The Wood River Valley’s One-Stop Audio/Video Resource Planning a new A/V project, stop by or call us for a FREE estimate!

• I love working with consignment because often they can sell the items that don’t work in your house, which helps pay for the new items.

glass shower doors that were purchased at a major discount from a local glass company.

The vanity in the main bathroom is stunning but was too short for it’s original intention and was thus rejected. We added caps to the legs, raised it up and it fits perfectly. All of our tile and most of the lighting fixtures were purchased from the Building Material Thrift store just south of Hailey.

A massive Montana moss rock fireplace constructed with a ‘dry-stack’ look is another Home | sunvalleymag.com 77

LCD & LED TV’s on display • 3D TV Showcase • Home Theater Systems Integrated House Audio • Custom keypad & whole house A/V control Stereos • iPod Sound Docks • Computer Net working • Outdoor Audio Sony • Samsung • Sharp • Panasonic • Boston Acoustics • Definitive Technology KEF • Denon • Yamaha • Apple • Monster Cable • Beats By Dre • Skullcandy Sonos • Niles • Epson • Sanus & Chief • Parasound

The CourT yard • 360 easT avenue norTh • KeTChum • 208.726.0987

RED DOOR design house modern | classic | eclectic home furnishings & interior design services 12 west Bullion stReet, Hailey • 208.788.9075 w w w. r e d d o o r d e s i g nhouse.com

Windmill Ridge, LLC

{

25 Individual Cabins Family Style Restaurant and Bakery Truck and RV Parking Available Pet Friendly Cabins Available

Alamo, Nevada

775.7 25.3685

office hours: 6:30 am to 9:00 pm www.wind-mill-ridge.com

}

highlight of our home. The rock had been considered waste. It has a fire screen and doors that had been sitting in the metal workers shop for five years. It was rejected from the original use because the design had changed.

As a builder, my now husband has an advantage because the level of clientele he works with affords him the luxury of planned experimentation and education. This gave us a unique perspective when building our home because we had a vision that was complimented by unique experiences. We were able to see beyond that designation of most of the materials and create a look that fit the theme of our home.

An Upcycled Remodel Upcycling doesn’t have to start at the foundation. Tara Ooms started with a load of reclaimed material and remodeled her house in Old Hailey around what she had.

Tara is known for Tara Bella Gardens & Floral Design and her Christmas bizarre. So it was a natural transition for her to bring in repurposed items when it came to remodeling her house. “I’m always looking for different ways to break the barriers with flowers by using unconventional items in my designs,” says Tara. “It just made sense to see what I could do with the house.”

Working with her uncle Fritz Grabher of Grabher Construction to incorporate windows, doors and finish elements into her remodel, Tara created an upcycling showcase.

All of the doors and windows are reclaimed and different sizes throughout the house so they had to plan everything just right. Planning is, after all, a key element when using repurposed materials.

Her master bath is the ultimate in reuse.

The entire bathroom, from the bathtub and the wood cabinetry to the faucets and hardware, is on its second life. And Tara feels great about creating an eco-friendly space. “I was able to get a look and feel that I wanted at a price that made sense while making sustainable choices,” she says.

An Upcycled resource Consignment shops are a great way to add sustainable flair to any space. We asked Sarah Mullendore, owner of My House Furnishings in Ketchum, to help us incorporate a few items I purchased from her store into our home. Sarah has an eye for refreshing people’s environment in a way that supports reuse.

78 sunvalleymag.com | Home

She also creates new items from what most of us would consider waste.

“Instead of looking at old furniture as garbage, you should look at it as a resource to be mined,” says Sarah Sarah’s husband Luke, a skilled craftsman, constructs the furniture designs that she and her clients dream up from both repurposed and new materials. For example, Luke made our side tables and coffee tables, which are great examples of blending old and new materials. The tops are reclaimed barn wood while the bases are made of sleek, welded metal.

Sarah has an obsession with furniture and loves that consignment can offer an element of sustainability, affordability and fresh inventory. That’s why My House Furnishings is full of unique, rustic, transitional and contemporary furnishings that are both consignment and new. It’s the perfect mix.

Upcycled Luxury Upcycling is not only for those watching their wallet. Susan Witman of Susan Witman Interior Design states that, “Clients of all income levels are more aware of waste and appreciate the ingenuity of those creating new products from unlikely materials. It also creates character.”

Susan recently designed a home in the Wood River Valley and discovered special architectural elements locally at Davies-Reid Tribal Arts. In Ketchum antique hand-carved posts were designed into the custom cabinetry package to authenticate the style of the home they were designing.

“Of course, the end result has to be bestin-class, innovative, stylish and fit within their lives. We definitely are seeing a shift in consumer attitudes, changing the way we plan today’s projects,” says Susan The key to successful incorporation of repurposed materials is planning. Just like working on any construction project it’s important to have the whole team in place so that everyone is working toward a common goal.

In general, the upcycling movement is about thinking ahead so that we reduce our waste and our use of energy at the source.

Repurposing in our homes can be seen as anticipating the waste and finding something else to do with it—to upcycle.

For More Images

home and garden

{ www.sunvalleymag.com } Home | sunvalleymag.com 79

We build it the Way yOu Want it

Custom Cabinetry • Architectural Millwork • Doors • Outstanding Customer Service 118-B Lewis St. • Ketchum • ID • 83340 • 208.726.1905 • www.ketchumkustomwoodworks.com

why we live here // final thoughts PHOTOGRAPH Thia Konig

Home is where the dog is.

80 sunvalleymag.com | Home

McLAUGHLIN &

A S S O C I A T E S

PO B OX 4 7 9 _ S U N VA LLEY, I D 8 3 3 5 3

A R C H I T E C T S _ C H A R T E R E D ,

PH_208.726. 9392

FAX_208. 726.9423

A I A

W WW. M C L AUG HL INARC HIT E C T S. C O M

Q uintessential K etchum

T i m e t o d i s c o v e r K e t c h u m ’s i c o n i c s h o p s , s e rv i c e s , a n d a r t g a l l e r i e s l o c at e d i n t h e C o lon nade & C h r i st ian ia .

Armstrong-Root Optical • Comme les Filles • Davis • Elizabeth Lucas Home • Farasha • Elle Rose • Gilman Contemporary Gallery • Holli Jewelers • Iconoclast Books & CafÉ • Khyber Pass • Leslie St. Laurent Skin Care • Ming • ochi Gallery • Pure • Surefoot • Tully’s • SWAY • Catherine E. Durboraw M.D. & Mark E. Freeman M.D. at The Center For Aesthetics Christiania Professional Offices: Eagan Real Estate • RBC Wealth Management • Dr. Gary peterson Feltman & Garrison Pllc • Lawson Laski Clark & Pogue PLLC • Sun Country Management • Tandem Recruiting Group • Uranga & Associates • About Face • Boardman LLC • Greyhawk Capital Management • Jack Thornton For office and retail leasing opportunities please call Tim Eagan at (208)725-0800

Visit www.bestofketchum.com to find great deals before you shop.

Bounded by Sun Valley Road, Fourth Street and Walnut and Spruce