Project Description

Located on a wooded lot adjacent to Grant Creek in Missoula, this new home meets a young, active family’s lifestyle goals. The owners, who travel to Europe yearly to ski, aspired for a clean, modern farmhouse/Scandinavian design yet wanted the organic, imperfect old-world charm inherent in European architecture. The crisp material palette and simple architectural forms organized around an outdoor courtyard provide the right mood and setting for the family’s casual lifestyle.

In fair weather, a 24’ wide movable glass wall opens to connect the interior to a patio within the home’s u-shape. The design includes a ventilated gear room for a plethora of skis and hockey equipment, a garden harvest and canning room, copious storage for boats and river gear, a future ceramics workshop and a private guest suite over the garage. To meet the family’s love of water, a combo spa/resistance pool is right outside the master suite; additionally, an area graded for a hockey rink in the front yard makes the home a winter hub for all neighborhood families. Finally, due to yellowjacket issues in late summer, the owners requested a protected space for outdoor dining. Three bays in the front porch are designed with automated screens for enclosure. The screens are invisible in the trim when retracted. Should high winds occur, they retract automatically.

The creek sounds are ever-present during spring and summer from the living room, outdoor patio and master suite. The passage of light throughout the house throughout the day sets the mood in the various spaces. Once construction was complete, the owners reinstalled their tree platform and zip line.