As an architecture firm founded in Jackson Hole Wyoming, with offices in Park City and Denver, the mountain modern style is something we’ve seen develop and evolve. It is a hybrid or transitional style of architecture, trying to create modern buildings that capture light, air and views, while keeping elements from historic mountain homes, lodges and ranches. Like most transitional architecture, mountain modern isn’t a style, per se, but an idea. It does, though, have recurring characteristics that show up across the range of mountain modern buildings.
In high-end custom residential design, a mountain modern home will generally have a large central spaces for living and entertaining. These large living rooms and kitchens have oversized windows, often with wide sliding doors that open the space to the outdoors. Views are critical to the experience, whether they are views up into the mountains, sweeping views over hills and valleys, or short views into the nearby trees. Windows in all spaces can be designed to frame the world beyond. People building a home in a mountain setting appreciate that they are escaping the city, and want to feel this connection to nature. It is one of the biggest goals we hear from our clients, on nearly every project.
Whether nestled on a mountainside or tucked into a forest, a modern mountain home offers a serene retreat that is both luxurious and grounded in nature.
What is Mountain Modern Style?
As we mentioned, mountain modern is more of a concept than a style. It is a design aesthetic that combines the warmth and rustic charm of traditional mountain homes with the open, minimalist features of modern architecture.
How do you design something that is big, bright and open, while at the same time feeling warm, comfortable and cozy?
This is the challenge we take on as designers. It isn’t simple. Too much glass and steel and you lose the charm or the traditional mountain houses. Too small of windows and rooms, too many rustic or dark materials and you lose the broad, open, expansive feel of a pure, modern style home. It’s a subtle balance.
As with any traditional style of architecture, a traditional mountain style was first and foremost formed by the need to handle the elements. A mountain building had to deal with heavy snow, wide temperature swings leading to melting and freezing, high winds, cold temperatures, bright, low sun. Because of the rugged conditions of a site, and difficulties of transportation to remote locations, materials would have been sourced from the immediate local area. Often, buildings would have been built by the homeowner, or the community, using simple forms and techniques that would be common and result in a rustic or rural feel.
Modernism, on the hand, is a style that came about as a rejection of sense of place. A modern or international style developed without regard for local conditions or context. The idea was that modern manufacturing and production would transcend the need for tried and true design wisdom. Because of this, true modern buildings have suffered from the flaws of non climate-specific design. The open spaces and giant windows can be stunning, and remain desirable to most people looking to build their mountain retreat.
Mountain modern design pays tribute to the lessons of tradition and history, while incorporating the most successful elements from the modern movement.
What Defines the Mountain Modern Look?
Mountain modern architecture takes inspiration from the modernist experiments of the 1920s and 30s, and the midcentury styles, but it recognizes the desire for a more practical, cozy feel. This starts by revisiting the wisdom found in traditional mountain building types.
Pitched roofs that shed water and snow are the first big departure from pure modernism. These can be detailed in many ways, but the practical considerations of these rooflines define the building’s massing. Making this step provides challenges but also opportunities. Modern architecture was typified by the beauty of large planes of glass intersecting with the floating horizontal planes of floors and roofs. When done well, it was possible to create the illusion that the ceiling carried across the plane of glass to the outdoors, making the barrier between inside and outside almost disappear. With a pitched rood, this illusion doesn’t work the same way, but you do have the opportunity to create high vaulted ceilings that can then be decorated with beams and wood panel details. While this is a more ‘traditional’ style of building, it can create a very open, airy feel that can play nicely with an open modern floor plan. This is a common experience in mountain modern spaces.
The overall shape and organization of mountain modern architecture is often dictated by the landscape. The buildings are placed to capture views and to nestle into the trees. Often, the house will be broken up into several smaller buildings that can be connected in a variety of ways. This allows a large house to have smaller proportions and to take on the scale of cabins.
From the scale and massing of the building, down to the materials and details, mountain modern design is defined by the desire to be two somewhat conflicting things: rustic, natural and comfortable, vs. sleek, bright and minimal. This runs the risk of looking disjointed, but in the hands of a skilled designer, you can accomplish both of these goals, bringing them together in a way that embraces the best of both worlds.
Mountain Modern Exteriors
In mountain modern design, getting the proportions right is.paramount. When you cover a traditional building form with oversized modern windows, scale and proportion can get lost. Your architect will be going back and forth between opening things up to bring in the light and views, and scaling things down or breaking things up to make sure the human scale isn’t lost.
Large overhangs are common in a mountain modern aesthetic. Most historic traditions of mountain architecture from Switzerland to Japan, Tibet to Scandinavia, would have used large, overhanging roofs to shed water and show away from the walls and foundation, and to shade interior spaces during the summer months. These lessons are worth emulating when dealing with harsh conditions.
Exterior materials play a big part in creating this balance between rustic and modern. Natural materials and finishes should make up the predominant materials palette. This means wood siding, wood shingles/shakes, natural stone, heavy timber, wood trim and fascia. Steel and concrete can make for nice accent materials, but too much and you lose the building’s connection to the natural world. Stucco is not often used in mountain modern design.
In mountain modern design, there is often a desire to make the place feel more rustic by using old, or old looking materials. This brings up a conundrum. Do you really want to make a brand new place look old? And if so, what is the best way to do this?
On one hand, you want it to look timeless, so it has the comfortable feel of something that’s been there forever. On the other hand, you want it to feel new, modern and fresh. Old salvaged boards from barns and fences have been popular, but aren’t necessarily the most authentic solution. The patina of age and wear is nice, but there are ways to accelerate this process that are more sophisticated than simply slapping up some grey wood in odd places, starting with color selection for paint, stain and trim. Bright colors are less common, but aren’t out of the question. Sometimes a bright yellow or red trim looks natural and striking against the variety of a leafy backdrop.
Patios, landscaping and outdoor spaces are important to the experience of the building. The landscaping serves as the gradient, helping the building flow outward into the surrounding wilderness. People that build in mountain environments want to enjoy the outdoors, building in spaces for dining, relaxing and entertaining in key spots to enjoy the landscape.
Mountain Modern Interiors
Inside a Mountain Modern home, the design focuses on creating a warm, inviting space that walks the line between being open and bright and cozy and comfortable.
It tends to be a casual style that typically features open floor plans with an emphasis on communal spaces such as the living room, dining area, and kitchen. These spaces are often centered around a large fireplace, which serves as both a focal point, a heavy sculpture of stone or steel.
Natural materials continue to play a significant role in the interior design, with wood and stone being prominent throughout. Exposed beams, hardwood floors, and stone accent walls are common features that add texture and warmth to the space. Plaster walls are preferable to painted drywall, softening the edges and giving a subtle character (not to mention the wellness advantages of incorporating this layer of earth.) Wood paneling and wainscot can be used in a variety of ways, leaning more modern or more tradition in style.
The color palette is generally neutral, with off-whites and soft greens, blues and yellows creating a calming atmosphere. Bright colors can be used as accents, but not to distract from the colors of nature through the windows.
To balance the rustic elements, modern furnishings and fixtures are incorporated, often with clean lines and minimalist designs. This combination of natural and modern elements creates an interior that feels both cozy and contemporary, perfectly suited to the Mountain Modern aesthetic.
Again, the design of the spaces themselves is as important as the materials and furnishings. A space that gets out of scale is hard to make feel homey, no matter how charming and warm the materials are.
How Does Mountain Modern Differ from Traditional Western Style?
Mountain Modern and Traditional Western styles both draw inspiration from the rugged, natural landscapes they inhabit, but they differ significantly in their approach to design and aesthetics. Traditional Western style, often associated with rustic log cabins and ranch homes, emphasizes a more rugged and handcrafted aesthetic. It is characterized by heavy use of natural wood, rough-hewn logs, and stone, with intricate detailing and craftsmanship that highlight the artisanal nature of the construction. The interiors of Traditional Western homes are often cozy and intimate, with smaller windows, darker color palettes, and a focus on creating a warm, sheltered environment.
In contrast, Mountain Modern style takes these natural elements and refines them. There is less ornament, larger windows and spaces. Where Traditional Western homes might have small, shuttered windows, Mountain Modern homes boast expansive glass walls. The color palette in Mountain Modern design is typically lighter, allowing the natural surroundings to shine. Additionally, while Traditional Western homes were by necessity smaller, based on a life of fighting the elements by staying close to the hearth, Mountain Modern homes, with the benefit of modern heating and cooling systems, prioritize spaciousness and views.
When you are interested in exploring how modern design principles can be applied in your dream mountain setting, our team of residential architects can help you create your vision that captures the best of historic and modern design.
The Benefits of Modern Mountain Style Homes
Mountain modern design is meant to be practical and stylish. It draws from the wisdom of centuries of mountain architecture, while building upon the innovations of modern style. It takes in nature and views and ideally fits into the landscape.
These goals are a good match for our brand of wellness architecture. Light, fresh air, a connection to nature, along with pure natural materials and finishes and a timeless level of craftsmanship and detail are part of our core principles, for any design. And, of course, the mountain setting, away from the stresses of city life, easy access to nature that encourages getting outside and active living, is perfect for a wellness getaway place.
Key benefits of Modern Mountain style homes include:
- Harmonization with natural landscapes: The use of materials like stone and wood, along with careful design of scale and proportion, help the building fit with the environment.
- Performance: Designing roof lines, massing, sun angles and details appropriate to the mountain setting creates a better performing building.
- Abundance of natural light: Expansive windows and open floor plans floods the central spaces with natural light. Ideally every room gets light from at least two sides.
- Indoor-outdoor living: Large doors opening onto the landscaped patios encourages you to enjoy getting outside during the warmer seasons.
- Modern cozy: Open modern spaces are made cozy through the use of natural materials and elegant proportions.
