The team at Studio McGee puts a fresh spin on mountain modern style for a family retreat in Park City

As with many Californians who have put down roots in the Wasatch Back in recent years, the mountains were calling to this SoCal family when they decided to build a new getaway in Promontory, a private resort community in Park City. To make their vacation house a home, they called on Shea McGee and the team at Studio McGee based on a referral from friends who were former clients. The in-demand interior design firm, founded by Shea and her husband, Syd, celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2024. It was a highly successful decade in which Shea became a household name thanks to her popular Netflix series and Target collaboration, two New York Times bestselling books and the launch of McGee and Co., a shop featuring her exclusive product collections.


Shea McGee of Studio McGee, the interior design firm she founded with her husband, Syd, in 2014.

“Throughout the past decade, we’ve had one mission that kept us steering straight and moving forward, and that is to make life beautiful for ourselves and those around us,” says Shea. She set out to do just that when she got the call from these California clients. “They really like skiing and they visit Park City regularly, so they wanted to have a second home for their family to enjoy the outdoors and winter sports,” she explains. 

“Funky” probably isn’t the first word you would use to describe most Studio McGee projects, but that was the design directive from the homeowners for their five bedroom, seven bathroom retreat. “They wanted the house to be a little bit funky—but the Studio McGee version of that,” says Shea. The plans by 4C Architecture for the 10,000-square-foot home were almost finished when Shea came on board, and while she provided some consulting, “the architecture [of the property] as a whole was more contemporary, so we knew we were heading more in that direction.” 

To grant her clients’ wish for eclectic style while staying true to Studio McGee’s signature “modern heritage” aesthetic, Shea and her team selected compelling paint colors, eye-catching tile and patterned wallpaper for an unexpected-but-subdued dose of mountain pizazz. “You can interpret funky in so many different ways,” she says. “We felt like we could give them bolder color choices but still be inspired by the surrounding landscape and earth tones, which is important to me.” 

To that end, the team decided to highlight textural, organic elements reflective of Park City’s mountains throughout the home. They repeated the locally sourced stone from the exterior on a number of interior walls and added large timber details to some of the rooms. Neutral hues feature prominently throughout the home but hints of color come into play via the hay yellow mudroom, inky blue bunk room, spice-hued guest bedroom, velvety brown and dark teal upper bar area and green-gray kitchen cabinets. “We usually don’t choose paint color in the kitchen first, but the client was really set on having a French range with an interesting color,” explains Shea. “I wanted a more immersive color for the range, so we used Deep River by Benjamin Moore on the cabinets and then color-matched the range to the same hue.”

As for the furniture, finishes and accessories, the team focused on plush but prudent pieces, layers of interesting texture, and a balance of modern and traditional elements juxtaposed with a few fun surprises, including a massive curved wood coffee table in the living room and a red velvet sofa in the entry. “It’s important to me to design a home that has longevity,” notes Shea. “If every single item is fighting for attention you won’t be including classic choices in the mix. Ground the room in classics, and then incorporate some items you fall in love with.” 

After all, a true classic—much like Shea herself—never goes out of style. 

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