Ski-In, Ski-Out in Stowe, Vermont

Two of the home’s five bedrooms are bunk rooms, each able to house four guests

“We used a cheeky approach to the lighting in the dining room,” says Dana, referring to the cascading wood pendant lighting collection from Usona.

“I used gable roofs to mimic the mountain range,” says Hamor. The gables are clad in reclaimed corral board from Montana, with channel rustic siding stained to an earth tone stretching between them.

The coffee table/ottoman in the great room can be pulled apart so you can bring the upholstered section closer to the couch to rest your feet.

Architect Brian Hamor oriented the residence to face the “chin” of Mount Mansfield, the highest point in Vermont. For the great room’s furnishings, designers Courtney Dana and Jayme Kennerknecht playfully (but unobtrusively) paired sophisticated silvery denims and blues with camel-colored sheepskin on the armchair and a floor lamp so massive you can fit under its shade.

The dark-stained oak of the kitchen cabinetry “brings some texture and an earthy grounding quality to a space that’s otherwise bright white with very little detail,” says Dana.

The door to the main bedroom (far right) is hidden in rustic wood nickel gap siding that extends from the exterior facade to a corner of the main-floor landing.

A durable concrete floor in the mudroom easily handles heavy, wet ski boots.

Undulating, wavy-textured, high-variation gloss ceramic tiles in mossy green, from DiscoverTile, line the shower in the main bathroom.

A Jack-and-Jill bathroom serves two of the children’s bedrooms; pops of orange nod to the husband’s desire to have that color sprinkled throughout the house.

Cognizant of the primary bedroom’s tight floor plan, Dana sourced a space-saving combination bed/headboard/nightstand from Community Manufacturing.

Gauzy Etnea fabric curtains by Villa Nova soften the look in the primary bedroom.

“No one was getting a good night’s sleep,” says the wife. “My brother and sister-in-law were in the middle of the TV room on air mattresses.”

Lack of space was just one of the reasons the couple  decided to swap their too-small townhouse at the bottom of Stowe Mountain Resort for a larger home at a higher elevation. Along with moreroom for their three children and various guests, there would also be better views—and easy access to the lift right outside the door.

While searching for inspiration, they drew a heavy circle around a picture of a home with a mountain-modern theme that had been designed by a firm more than 2,000 miles away in Montana. Then, in a twist of architectural kismet, they met Stowe-based architect Brian Hamor, principal of Hamor Architecture Associates, who had spent the first two years of his career with that firm.

Hamor knew instinctively what they were after. “I wanted them to be able to feel the power of being in the mountains,” he says. “I wanted to break down the barrier of outside and inside as two separate things so that they would feel like they were truly standing in the mountains even when they were inside the house.”

Kennerknecht Design Group, based in Hamilton, Massachusetts, also knew what the couple was after. Senior designer Courtney Dana and principal Jayme Kennerknecht had collaborated with the clients on multiple past projects. “They wanted this house to be edgier than their traditional home in the Boston suburbs,” says Dana. “They wanted it to be cool.”

With Brendan O’Reilly and his team at Gristmill Builders in Waterbury, Vermont, on board—and up for the challenge of framing a home on the side of mountain in what O’Reilly calls “intense weather”—they all got to work.

Hamor broke down the barrier between inside and out by bringing the home’s exterior materials palette indoors. A steel beam comes straight through and becomes the stairs. Rustic siding transitions without fanfare from the home’s facade to its walls. Floor-to-ceiling windows further blur the line between outside and in. “I aimed the build right at Mount Mansfield,” he says—“so majestic, such a powerful space.” The husband remarks, “You kind of feel like you’re outside in a lot of ways.”

When it came to the interiors, Dana and Kennerknecht avoided what the latter calls “the cliché mountain lodge” by combining industrial and rustic elements, making the home’s interior both dramatic and rich with texture, warm but not precious. “Something should be able to be pushed across the table without scratching it,” Dana says, which is why, for instance, she went with a wire-brushed tabletop instead of a perfect polish.

“Courtney and Jayme kind of know what you like before you know it,” the wife says. “I like things that have clean lines, that are simple, but I also wanted to have that cozy feeling. They did a great job.” Adds the husband, “We’re super happy with how it turned out.”

The couple now enjoys hosting their friends and extended family, and looks forward to the kids bringing their own families someday. No air mattresses needed.

Project Team
Architecture: Hamor Architecture Associates
Interior design: Kennerknecht Design Group
Builder: Gristmill Builders
Landscape design: Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture