This house had been in my client’s family for years when they called me about renovating their family home into a mountain retreat for their friends and family.
When I flew out to Montana to look at it, I walked down to the river to take it all in. The water was a cold shock to my fingers. Great slabs of rock that the river had carved from the earth lay around me. I heard the wind as it sighed through the trees that surrounded me on the bank, and I became more aware of these enormous pines, their gnarled roots in the ground and their straight spines that stretched up to the blue sky.
The house had aged, but the bones were good. It had a few architectural quirks, but I thought that these gave this home even more character and deserved to be celebrated. We would create a sanctuary on the river in the spirit of these trees.
The stairs in the original house were located in this same spot, right in the middle of the main room. Rather than moving the staircase, we chose to feature it and surrounded it with this railing made by a local Montana artisan.
The great room features a large eat-in kitchen and a cozy seating area by the stone fireplace. The wall of windows offers gorgeous vistas with a stunning view out onto the river.
With little room for cabinets, armoires provide the storage for the open kitchen.
Vintage skis hang over the fireplace, with the Gallatin River in the distance.
In the master bedroom, a built-in window seat looks out over the river. I love the custom leather headboard with vintage bridle details.
This guest bathroom features the warmth and rustic texture of a slate tile countertop and shower.
Who doesn’t want to walk right out of their bedroom to the river beyond?
Every now and again when the wind picks up near my home in Florida, I’ll hear the sound I heard in those trees, and my heart returns for a moment to the river.
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