Creating a “Baby”

For the past three years I've been working on a really great project in Deer Valley, Utah. I'm working with clients that I have worked with in the past and this will be the third house I have done for them. With each new project we know each other better and that makes the process so much more enjoyable for both of us, because we have grown to have a mutual trust and understanding.

We're in the stage of the building process where things are starting to come together and the house is really starting to look like a house. If you could relate the building process to being pregnant, the house would be in its third trimester. Even though I've never been pregnant, I often relate to the building/design process as having a baby. You create, and wait to see your efforts come to fruition – often times it takes about the same amount of time for furniture to arrive as it takes to have a baby!

On this project I've been involved from the very beginning, working with Hagman Architects out of Aspen, CO. The concept of the house, which is set on a breathtaking lot, is that there were old stone structures or "out buildings" that were connected by vintage industrial glass structures. In the photos where you see plastic, there will be Hope's window walls. In fact, two entire sides of the living room are floor to ceiling Hope's window walls, and on the one side there will be a glass bridge that connects two of the stone "buildings". There will be another Hope's structure with glass on three sides that houses a glass staircase. The interior furnishings will be a combination of clean classic antiques mixed with more transitional pieces and a lot of natural "un-worked" materials. The house will have color (European yellows, greens, blues and burnt oranges) in its furnishings and fabrics to stand up to the strength of the natural stone and wood that will run from the exterior through to the interior. As beautiful as natural materials are, they have a tendency to "eat" up color.

I've included some "ultrasounds" if you will, and can't wait to show you photos of when the "baby" is born.