words and photos by: Scot Zimmerman
An assignment to photograph a new contemporary home took me to Glenwild, a gated development near Park City with a golf course and clubhouse.
Park City architect Scott Jaffa of the Jaffa Group designed the home of steel, concrete, and wood. The home is configured for the views to the golf course, the Wasatch Mountain Park City ski slopes, and the Uinta Mountains in the distance to the east.
The clean lines of the rectangular forms sit quietly on a gently sloping hill, and Jaffa configured the largest glass walls and the outdoor living to maximize the ski slope and golf course views. It’s a house of connections. The wall extends over a courtyard to the garage to shade guest parking. A bridge connects the garage entrance to a wing with glass views, so you know where you are always in terms of the outdoor geography. It flows but isn’t predictable, which made the home interesting.
The white walls, glass, nine-foot ceilings, and floating staircase of the main living area make it light, airy, and unconfined. Jaffa created some interesting effects in the open plan, which always seems like a dialogue between connections and separations. One was by lowering the great room about four feet to separate it in the open floor plan while continuing the same ceiling height as connection. Another was the use of ceiling treatment over the dining area to call out its function without the use of any other furnishings, so it is open on all sides.
The kitchen is a delight for anyone adverse to clutter. The white walls, cabinets, and light floors are the background for black door, dark wood of the stairway, glossy squared-up blue tile back splash. To the right of the kitchen photo is a long butler’s pantry with additional storage that can be closed off.
The master bedroom is essentially a cube where the lift and slide glass panels open one wall to the deck, windows look to the views, and a fireplace on one of the interior walls is shared with the master bath with a sleek geometric soaking tub on the opposite side of the wall.
The 6,400-square-foot home includes five bedrooms, seven baths, and other socializing spaces.
The challenge to photographing the home was to find a sunny bright slot of time amid the mercurial late spring weather. It’s a home I feel demands light and shadow.