My personal southern migration is triggered by the St. George Area Parade of Homes, an annual event that this year was adjusted to allow online attendance. I love to see how desert homes are evolving in St. George. Wayne Anderson, who I have featured before (Anderson Custom Homes, Inc., St. George) built his Parade entry on an upper lot in the gated community of Stone Cliff with indescribable views of snowy Pine Mountain, the lights of St. George and the surrounding red cliffs. Design credit goes to Scott Hughes, Paradise Home Design, and Angie Marshall, Tasteful Trends, interior designer.

Moving just inside from where I took the opening shot outside, you can see the layers of the open plan. There are few divisions; one is a panel opposite the front entry door, which is seen in the detail that follows. The color scheme stays pleasantly neutral with whites and kicks of silver in the threads of the textiles and the accessories.

From the front entry, very little of the open-planned interior can be seen. The color wall in the entry picks up the hues of the exterior stone.

This is the room view as you step into the entry. The glass wall allows for full appreciation of the lot’s views. Versus Park City where view walls often have glass wall systems that fold away to open to patios completely, in St. George I observed a preference for clear glass and smaller doors in order to better control climate during the months of high summer temperatures.

The dining area enjoys fine views in two directions plus the interface with the pool and outdoor living. The bult-in hutch hovers over the stone-topped cabinet.

The white-on-white kitchen has a deep island with bar seating, and plenty of counter space plus a built-in desk. Homeowners that I speak with universally love a desk for a laptop, cookbooks, grocery lists and family calendars. They say it’s a feature that adds ease to their day. To the right, there is a butler’s pantry and a walk-in pantry that takes the space behind the refrigerator and freezer.

I had to feature the white-marble master bath. Once, when I was touring a home, someone said of the master bath, “It’s large enough to practice the tango!” Here is another one dancing the tango. The opaque glass door leads to the master bedroom.

The glassed-in office/den in the private wing of the home can be appreciated from the outdoors. While private from the foot traffic in the home, it remains connected to outdoor living and watching the kids in the pool.

I’ll close with the front exterior view. After seeing the living area’s major views, you can appreciate the privacy from the street. The oversized garage is a feature that more people are requesting. It’s tall enough for a Sprinter van or many of the interesting truck-to-camper conversions people are doing.

I’m afraid I can’t report on recreating or interesting trail rides during my visit. This time I just migrated south for work. Maybe next time.

Click here to see some of our favorite architecture from this year’s St. George Area Parade of Homes.

I felt the promise of Spring last week. I had the chance to drive up to Promontory, a private resort community east of Park City, where I enjoyed grand views in every direction, mild temperatures, and the relaxed pace of the resort. The golf courses were snowy, but my hunch is not for too much longer. The homeowners were just settling into their new home, built by Upland Development (Ryan and Jesica Taylor) and designed by Park City stalwarts Otto-Walker Architects. Ryan Taylor worked with the homeowners to select the finishes.

The home’s configuration maximizes the hilltop views from the upper level’s living space, and to assist with this, there are two garages. One is at grade for two cars with ease for unloading groceries by the kitchen and pantry. A second garage with two bays is at the lower level. 

A wood and glass pivot door surrounded by glass greets visitors at the entry, which leads to the open-planned living, dining and kitchen areas that connect to outdoor living with glass railings for no interruption to views.

Looking the opposite direction, this time from the entry, the home is transparent to the views. Establishing place in this way is one of the ways to recognize Otto-Walker architecture. I am showing both the daytime and evening views so you can appreciate the transformation of space’s mood from daytime to evening. Reclaimed beams and timber in portions of the ceiling are juxtaposed against the crystal chandeliers and cut glass shelving that melds rustic and sophisticated classic. 

The reclaimed lumber ceiling continues through the kitchen, and ceiling clouds define the kitchen and dining areas. The white-painted cabinetry and glass light fixtures contribute to the continued sophisticated classic styling. To the left beyond the refrigerator is a walk-through butler’s pantry with a desk and computer that naturally functions as a household hub. A full pantry connects to the butler’s pantry. 

This second kitchen photo makes it easier to appreciate the depth of the island and considerable workspace in the kitchen.

The hilltop location makes it possible to have views in every direction, and the master bedroom’s windows capture them. As in the living area, the patio railings are glass to allow greater uninterrupted views to the outdoors.

Spaciousness marks the master bath with its large double-doored shower and his-and-her vanity with a well-considered glass cabinet and dressing-table feature.

Along the stairs is another window with views to the hillsides behind the home. The shiplap wall treatment projects another classic touch. On the lower level is a family area, bar, fitness room and bedrooms.

The home was designed and built for comfortably serving guests and extended family. With COVID, the home seemed comfortable for two generations, the younger generation working remotely from the office and busy on laptops and headsets, and a visiting puppy, proving the point that its use meets the intention.

Photos by Scot Zimmerman

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I continue my fascination with Salt Lake City’s secret locations and amazing homes. This week I photographed the Skaggs Mansion, the former home of businessman and philanthropist Sam Skaggs, which has changed hands several times before receiving a fresh remodel from the assiduous talent of its current owner with the assistance of Salt Lake interior designer Cody Beal (Cody Beal Interior Design, Salt Lake City). Located on nearly seven acres in the high Avenues neighborhood, it’s a half-hour walk to downtown and a short stroll to the University of Utah Medical Center complex, with the feel of a sanctuary set in the trees away from the city bustle.

The opening shot shows how the outdoor space and broad windows of the living areas look out at the views of the Salt Lake Valley. This second photo was taken on the opposite side and looks to the entry on the north (adjacent to the hillside). The home was designed for entertaining and fundraising events; hence the circular drive and extra parking.

The front door opens to an entry reception room highlighting a view to the windows on the opposite side. The design introduces the richly saturated colors found throughout the home in the art, area carpet, and classic furnishings. The reception room is the hub to connect the dining and living spaces for easy flow entertaining.

As you enter the home, you’ll notice the formal dining room to the left with its eggplant walls and teal chairs. The chandelier softly illuminates the faces of those gathered around the table, and by centering the light, the dining room has a cocooning effect of added intimacy for conversing.

A glass pivot door connects the dining room to a covered outdoor dining space with views of the snowy Wasatch Range, Mount Olympus and the valley below.

The dining room side door opens to a long galley kitchen with cobalt blue cabinetry and a coordinated La Cornue range. The kitchen functions well for catered events and parties, as well as for family use. The long row of steel windows looks out to the foothills and mountains. At the far end is a hall connection to the informal dining room/breakfast room.

Sized for a smaller group, the warm wall color draws you in. The cobalt blue chandelier echoes the color in the nearby kitchen.

To the right of the reception room is the living room, connected to a glass-covered atrium. The botanical-patterned carpet is from the Netherlands. Seating is in two sunken areas, unusual but very functional. The opposite center wall is white with a projected underseas image. The entertainment system can be adapted to presentations, as well. By sinking the conversation areas, guests either standing or seated at banquet tables can see the presentations.  One of the options for the screen is spaced-themed views into galaxies, and if the homeowner hadn’t changed it, I would still be there staring at it with my chin dropped.

Another connection from the reception room leads to the private wing of the home.

The library/home office has most enviable backdrop for Zoom meetings I have seen.

Moving further down the hallway is the master suite. The suite connects to a sitting area and to outdoor living.

The master bath has a beautiful glass and marble shower, and the vanity is an antique with a marble surface. Beyond is the closet and dressing area.

Off the master wing is the patio and pool with the strongest views from the property: they seem to encompass the entire Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, the home features two more bedroom-suites, hobby and workshop spaces, as well as more room for entertaining with wide hallways and transition spaces for mingling.

As far as making the photos, I emphasized lighting to capture both the saturated colors and the views, and then I layered them. Also, I took a number of keyhole shots because I felt it was important to show the room connections in order to appreciate the unusual architecture and movement through the home.

I am unable to credit the architect. I would enjoy hearing back from anyone who knows who designed this beautiful concrete home and more of its history.

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With a blanket of snow covering most of North America, I decided this week to stay with the theme of white but to move it to a more tropical setting. The result is a feature on a white-on-white beach cottage. One of my highlights of 2017 was traveling to Seaside, Fla., located along the coastal Panhandle and scenic byway Highway 30A. The husband-and-wife founders of Seaside Robert and Daryl Davis started with a large untouched family-owned coastal tract of land that once served as a vacation camp for workers at a family-owned factory.

Inviting innovative planners and architects into the conceptualization and design, Seaside stands as an example of the early application of form-based codes and New Urbanism. Architects from all over the country designed distinctive and interesting cottage homes that seamlessly flow together while forming a community that feels and functions very much as a whole. The town center is on the north side of 30A, but some building sites are in the sand dunes to the south. It is here that Scott Merrill (Merrill, Pastor & Colgan) designed a cluster of one-bedroom beach cottages.

Merrill’s inspiration for the cottage design was Thomas Jefferson’s Honeymoon Cottage. Jefferson built the tiny structure as a start to Monticello after his parent’s home Shadwell burned. Soon after, he married and settled into the cottage with his bride, Martha Wayles Skelton. In Seaside, the porticoed porch faces toward the road and town center, and the rear veranda (shown in the opening shot) faces the sea.

The home is a long rectangle with the open-planned living, kitchen and veranda on the upper floor. This view looks out to the sea. The covered porch allows for outdoor living in mild rain or bright sun and allows for ocean breezes to dispel some of the heavy hot air, characteristics of the Gulf Coast weather. The room design keeps a white palette with the area rug and cushions picking up the tones of the sand. White ceiling and walls are classic cottage design because the space feels larger and less confined, and the views introduce color to make the views to the outdoors the focal points. The walls and ceiling are all shiplapped boards.

Looking the opposite direction, you can appreciate the simple open-gabled design and the careful attention to furniture placement to separate seating groupings without making the whole of the space discordant.

The one-sided galley kitchen is functional, and the design allows for a dining table inside, although the upper veranda is the principal area for entertaining. The ceiling’s cross beam suggests a division for the kitchen space, and I suspect it is functional.

The stairway leads up from the entrance with shiplapped walls on each side. On the right, the wall forms the half-wall backsplash in the kitchen. The dense rope handrail references the nautical and the beach location. 

Downstairs is just one bedroom (of course—it’s a honeymoon cottage), a bath, and another veranda with a sitting area and soaking tub. The white-on-white theme continues with the painted iron headboard and footboard, bedside table and lamp, shades, shiplapped walls, and the painted floor trusts of the ceiling.

Looking out you can see natural vegetation growing on the sand dunes. Considering this is a resort area, one would expect clear views to the ocean, but Seaside gave careful consideration to how the natural landscape design guidelines could protect the beach homes from storm damage and reduce dune erosion. Even with more frequent storms and hurricanes, to my knowledge, the vegetation and the setbacks are protecting the coastline and the homes.

Another feature to call your attention to are the latching shutters. Robert and Daryl Davis generously invited me to stay in another Honeymoon Cottage. That night a severe storm raged. With the shutters latched we stayed safe and comfortable. They really worked well for weather protection. 

It is possible to experience Seaside, Florida, and to even stay in many of the homes. If you are interested in planning and architecture, I think it is a must for your post COVID travels. The original concept for Seaside was a permanent full-time community complete with a school. However, Seaside’s success as a destination has meant a demand for vacation rentals. Agencies handle the homes’ rentals, and it’s possible to stop for part of a day while driving up 30A. In an afternoon, you can walk out to the pavilion sea overlooks, stroll the community and take in the architectural details of the homes, browse the bookstore and art shops, and enjoy a meal at a restaurant or food trailer. 

And sympathies to those in Texas and in the South without power and water. How very difficult for you. We will hope for help for you and for warmer weather. 

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