Designer Jeff Landry treats a Deer Valley ski house to a masterful makeover by recasting its spaces and infusing it with lively color and lux details.Â
Quiet me-time, you’ll always have your followers. But for the owners of this recently remodeled Deer Valley ski home, it is about hanging with their clan.“More than anything, they wanted a comfortable place for their family to come together,” says designer Jeff Landry, who transformed the empty nesters’ tired ’80s vacation house into an elegant, relaxed retreat for the couple and their four adult daughters with growing families.
Breathing new life into decades-old mountain homes is nothing new for Landry, whose work frequently includes reconfiguring obsolete floor plans. This 5,500 square-foot Stag Lodge town house was no exception. Working within the confines of the hillside structure (and a notably short construction period), Landry expanded the existing three levels into four by capturing wasted space above the main-level kitchen to create an open loft accessed by a new staircase. He enlarged the entry by eliminating clustered closets and eased narrow hallways, stairways and tight access to rooms throughout. The designer also carved extra space from overly large sleeping suites to turn four bedrooms into six and five bathrooms into seven. “Today, people want to spend time together, not alone in oversized bedrooms,” he explains.
The home’s main gathering space, the great room, is large yet remains comfortable, thanks to Landry’s deft design.“It’s not about enormous rooms these days, but rather about integrating intimate family spaces,” he says. For example, a walnut-topped island and slate- blue cabinetry define and delineate the kitchen space where the family naturally gathers. “Kitchen cabinets should stay in the kitchen, and the rest of the great room’s built-ins should feel like furniture,” Landry says.
In the nearby dining space, the designer placed a graciously shaped oval table and chairs, an easy-to-access work station and a sitting area near a sunny window. “They wanted a cozy spot for future grandchildren to rest and play,” Landry says.
The main living area occupies much of the great room and is anchored by a wide, natural stone-clad fireplace. No more bulky chimney and bullying boulders of yesteryear. There, the family can lounge in cushy armchairs and a leather sectional, and conveniently grab drinks at the built-in bar stationed beside the fireplace. Flannel-covered panels span the remainder of the great room’s walls and its ceiling, adding an unmistakable element of luxury. “It’s all about layers for this client,” says Landry, referring to the woman of the house with whom he closely collaborated.
In truth, this client initially had Landry scratching his head. “Early in the process, she and I spent an entire day choosing fabrics, and I was left wondering how in the world this was going to work,” he recalls. Describing the towering stack of selections—wildly mixed patterns, vivid colors and unrelated combinations—as “schizo,” Landry was baffled.
“The homeowner also inserted black and white into every space,” he explains.“I realized that was the thread that tied her choices together.” Soon thereafter, Landry visited the clients in their California home and confirmed his conclusion. “The rooms had a similar mix of big colors, interesting textures and patterns, and ever-present black and white. They all played well together.” The same holds true in this Deer Valley home today.
In the kitchen, for example, barstools upholstered in graphic black-and-white play against a backdrop of solid walnut and blue-painted panels. In the dining room, similarly colored rugs-—luxuriously layered under the table—are teamed with the sitting area’s velvet leopard-print seating. And in the living areas, wide black-and-white striped pillows repeat the recurring color pairing. It lives elsewhere— fearlessly on the bathrooms’ patterned tile walls and floors, subtly in the bedrooms’ custom bedding and intermittently on upholstered walls, furnishings and draperies throughout. And infusing every space are luxurious materials and exquisite details that Landry says truly define the décor. “Nothing is fancy on its own, but it is all beautiful,” he says.
Today, the home reflects mountain resort living of current times—comfortable, elegant and effortless. “The owners were ready for something new and yet it looks and feels like it happened over time, just like they’d hoped,” the designer says. “They couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Sources
Interior Design: Jeff Landry, Jeff Landry Design, SLC
Architect: Adam Huft, Epic Engineering, Heber City
Contractor: T.L. Eubanks, Kamas, 435-783-2705
Furnishings: Available through Jeff Landry Design, SLC
Custom Cabinets: Tyler Perry, Forever Furniture, West Jordan
