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Ask local builder Josh Phillips for his vision of a luxurious mountain home, and you might be surprised by what you hear. He won’t list a series of typical rustic accouterments—no bullying beams, deer antlers or distressed finishes would inhabit his dream home. Phillips’ interpretation of a stylish mountain abode is more refined: a little less country, a little more chic. “There will always be a place for rustic mountain homes,” says Phillips, owner of Aspen Valley Homes in Park City. “But I think mountain homes are moving toward more contemporary architecture, for both the exterior and the interior. I wanted to introduce something new, something cleaner to the area.” On a pristine hillside lot in Talisker’s private community of Tuhaye, located just outside of Park City, Phillips’ contemporary vision came to fruition.
To start, his mountain dwelling needed a fresh floor plan, and Phillips knew just the man to call: Solim Gasparik, an architect with C4 Design Group who specializes in pavilionized floor plans. “A pavilionized floor plan is newer and more modern,” says Gasparik. “It’s not a typical cluster floor plan where all the rooms are situated in one big mass. Instead, we pull the rooms apart and connect them through breezeways or hallways.” Gasparik designed a two-story pavilionized floor plan for the Tuhaye home; each level features two main living pods connected with a circulation spine with suites on either side.
According to Phillips and Gasparik, pavilionized floor plans allow for privacy while still creating a comfortable space for families. “Each room is its own structure, but just open your door to the hallway and you are connected to everyone else,” says Phillips. The separated rooms also allow for more window space, and as a result, more natural light. “With a pavilionized floor plan, you can have windows on three walls instead of one,” says Gasparik. “Every house we design with a pavilionized floor plan has twice as many windows as the average home.” The abundance of windows and natural light were important to Phillips, who wanted the home to feel connected to the site’s natural landscape and spectacular views of the surrounding Uinta and Wasatch mountains.
With a structure in place, it was time to tackle the interior. Phillips needed the home’s interior to complement the clean mission-contemporary exterior. He approached the team at LMK Interior Design and explained his vision. LMK’s Rion Locke, Richard Miller and Mark Kizerian were on board from the get-go. “Josh wanted a new take on mountain decor,” explains Locke. “He wanted it to be clean but soft—no harsh lines—and conducive to the environment.”
The pros at LMK devised a plan to create a stylish but comfortable setting with an eclectic look, mixing contemporary lines with natural materials. “The key is in the mix,” says Kizerian. “An eclectic mix gives a softer look and is aesthetically pleasing. It’s a timeless way to design; you can live with and enjoy the look for a long time.”
The “mix’’ enhances every room of the home. Furniture pieces like the living room’s clean-lined sofa and woven cocktail table feature smooth surfaces paired with textured fabrics. “The textures echo the rock, stone and bark found outside the home,” says Kizerian. Feel-good fabrics like mohair, chenille and faux fur add warmth and comfort to the setting, while a mix of patterned and solid fabrics add interest.
The mix is also employed underfoot and overhead. Hardwood floors mingle with wool camel-and-cream-colored carpets. An assortment of wood tones blend throughout the home: light oak floors contrast with dark oak cabinets, and light-colored ceilings contrast with dark beams. “The contrast helps highlight the architecture,” explains Locke.
To create further depth and contrast, LMK treated the interior walls throughout the house like canvases, strategically painting the large planes either beige or taupe. The two-toned effect is subtle yet effective. The designers then added other hues to their warm organic-toned palette including rust, sage green and flax, each mimicking hues found in nature.
To delineate spaces and prevent rooms from looking the same, the team mixed furniture shapes and sizes, as well as varied fabrics and colors throughout the home. On the main floor, the designers paired dark woven pieces with light fabrics; downstairs they reversed the look, selecting light woven pieces with dark fabrics. “All of it is about flow,” says Miller. “We like to create interest from room to room but strive for continuity throughout.”
The result, thanks to Gasparik, Phillips and the team at LMK, is a harmonious home, a blend of rustic and refined, comfort and style. Or, as Phillips aptly describes it, “mountain contemporary’’ at its best.
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