Sawtooth Residence

A home and barn sit at the southern end of the Sawtooth Mountain Range, named for the dramatic peaks that cast a jagged horizon against the Idaho sky. Its series of connected volumes echo the tenets of traditional ranch buildings, where structures continue to add on and evolve with the passing of time. Sawtooth Ranch settles quietly into a clearing amid aspen and cottonwood trees, making way for the passage of sheep herded down from the mountain at the start of each fall. At the foot of a steep slope, Sawtooth Ranch is seated in the liminal space between dense forest and open grassland. The curve of a river forms a natural boundary for the home, while clearances to the north shield it from the thundering fall of avalanches. Clad in recycled barn wood, traditional gabled ranch structures are modernized through black steel trusses and oak and stained cypress interior finishes. The home's main gathering area balances the solidity of a stone fireplace and chimney with a light-filled open plan and windows that offer views to nature's stage just outside. In this wooded environment, teeming with eagles, ospreys, elk, moose, and pine martens, life is lived within the code of the surrounding terrain.