A few terms you should commit to memory if you covet the look and feel of a traditional farmhouse: authentic, informal and at-ease. That’s according to the team that designed and built Brandon and Robin Bodell’s charming new Draper home presented in our spring story Farm Raised. The following photos take us beyond those shared in the printed feature, capturing key farmhouse characteristics while showcasing even more of the dreamy family home.
Brandon Bodell Construction creates dream homes for discerning Utah clients. So when it came time for owner Brandon Bodell to do the same for his own clan, he and wife Robin purchased a dilapidated 1800s house on land that borders a horse property in Draper. They removed the old house and built their family’s dream farmhouse designed by architect Bradford Houston. Houston rejected ideas of a modern farmhouse, looking instead to historic precedence and Draper’s rural past for architectural inspiration. Notable features include exposed rafter tails, gas lanterns, a shake roof and painted clapboard and board-and-batten siding.
In the welcoming entry, Houston rejected the idea of an exposed brick wall, explaining that while brick would appear authentic on a fireplace, using it to detail an interior wall inside a wood structure would look wrong. Instead, he dressed the space in handsome paneling.
The living room sits between the most used spaces—this family room/media room and the kitchen. “The living room helps soften the noise between these most occupied spaces,” Brandon Bodell says. The family room features a two-sided fireplace that is shared with the somewhat dressier living room on the other side. Interior designer Christie Lewis looked to the exterior’s style and materiality for inspiration as she created the warm and welcoming décor Robin craved.
A charming breakfast nook invites the family to casually dine in the striking kitchen. Head-turning details deliver the room’s authentic, inviting style: a hand-painted Tabarka tile backsplash, a fumed oak beamed ceiling, a custom plaster hood and a mix of painted and exposed-grain custom cabinets. Timeless Bevolo gas lanterns flicker above one of the room’s two islands.
Farrow & Ball’s De Nimes paint enriches the combined mudroom/laundry room, where brick flooring adds durability and charm to the heavily used space. Lewis draped Thibaut fabric beneath the mudroom’s sink and repeated its pattern on the walls of the main powder room for continuity.
Simplicity and master craftsmanship define the stairway, where Brandon uniquely transitioned the lower staircase’s stacked wall planks to vertical versions as they reach the upper level.
Wood-planked surfaces and hand-painted floor tiles infuse the primary bathroom with sophisticated farmhouse style. Brass mirrors, brass-and-lucite sconces and unlacquered brass plumbing fixtures add elegance and timeless beauty to the light-filled space. “This room makes my heart sing,” designer Christie Lewis says.
“We really had some fun here,” says Lewis, referring to a young girl’s bathroom furnished with pink cabinetry. A shapely brass mirror and patterned wallpaper add to the décor’s sweet style.
