Editor’s Note: Summer 2023 is Making Design Magic

Last weekend, our neighbors threw a backyard fiesta featuring a taco station, hand-crafted margaritas and a professional magician. His act included the expected decks of cards, disappearing coins and seemingly inescapable handcuffs. Fortunately, the stage was too small for cutting a woman in half. The performer ended the evening by pulling a rabbit out of thin air and was generously rewarded with tequila-fueled applause. The guy was impressive, but the way I see it, he didn’t have anything on the magic-making design we feature in the following pages. 

Consider the A-list team that helped Alex and Sarah Lowe transform the livability of their historic Tudor by conjuring a strikingly modern addition attached to the back of the century-old brick house. “The juxtaposition is magical,” Sarah exclaims. 

Similar sorcery renewed  Jason and Scott Singer’s cramped Sugarhouse bungalow, where a reconfigured floor plan and raised ceilings made a spacious, light-filled interior wondrously appear. In Holladay, a nifty bit of sleight of hand turned a portion of Kim and Jay Heglar’s front yard into a private oasis that winds around to the back of their newly remodeled home. In Olympus Cove, designer Cara Fox harnessed the power of scale and timeless style to recast Luke and Holley Burbank’s oversized rooms into cozy and comfortable gathering spaces. And high above the Capitol building in Salt Lake City, modern forms and some architectural trickery enabled Bob and Char Roetzel’s new hillside home to capture breathtaking views from nearly every vantage point. Wand-waving wizardry fills this issue, front to back.

Certainly, you don’t have to be a magician to transform a home or garden from tired to inspired, but as our featured design pros and projects prove, a few tricks of the trade can help. 

Preview our Summer 2023 issue online here.