A quiet retreat is designed for a busy family to unwind, crafted by the expert team of Farland Interiors, Studio AM Architecture & Interiors, and Bender Wasenmiller Custom Builders.
The architecture and construction team saved a plethora of mature trees in the remodel of this Medina residence. It has Loewen windows throughout, sourced from Windows, Doors & More.
Portrait – Seattle
ASK INTERIOR DESIGNER Brianna Farland to describe her clients for this project and she can do it in one word: “Dynamic,” says Farland, who is owner of the Bozeman, Montana-based Farland Interiors, and has known the family, including the parents and their four children, for eight years and across several projects. “They are incredibly active with work, school, and travel, and they are truly
never at a standstill,” says Farland. Such is why when it came time to overhaul the family’s outdated and too-small home in Medina, the clients asked their team—including Farland Interiors, Studio AM Architecture & Interiors, and BenderWasenmiller Custom Builders—to deliver
them a much-needed retreat. Their new home would be “fine-tuned to how they function,” says Farland. “The primary
objective was to ensure the new space is specifically tuned to their daily functions while providing a calm, hidden oasis for the
family to return to.” As it happens, that calm oasis kicked off with a surprising development. “One day I got a call from the owner and he told me that they bought the house next door,” says architect Mike Troyer, of Studio AM Architecture & Interiors. The team combined the two sites to a spacious 1.39 acres, which would hold, not only the 7750-square-foot main house, but a guest house, with a pool courtyard nestled in between and linking the two buildings. Troyer embraced a terraced design to accommodate the challenge of a fifty-foot grade across the entire site. Yet from the street, the house still presents as low profile, with “natural, muted materials” for the exterior, says Troyer, including split limestone,
stained cedar siding, and metal panels.
The living room fireplace has a two-sided DaVinci insert, and custom hand-split limestone from Arris Stoneworks Inc. The curved Miniforms Ozz Arc Lamp and Berman Rossetti Nobilis sofas make the room.
“They didn’t want the house to be ostentatious in any way,” says Troyer. “They wanted it to be set into the property and to keep a natural look to it all.” Inside, the plan is tailored to the ebbs and flows of the family’s daily life, in a neutral and natural palette elevated by expertly crafted details, the latter for which contractor Bender Wasenmiller Custom Builders is known. “We have a portfolio of contractors that we have worked with and understand how to implement the details that we draw. We have worked with them before and enjoyed our projects with them,” says Troyer. “Contemporary houses can be very hard to put together, just because the tolerances are so tight, and they always do an excellent job.” Take the ceiling treatment in the living room, covered in a neat grid of custom riftcut white oak panels. In order to execute the design, the team spent several days mapping out the wood squares and their margins, so as not to run into problems midway through the installation. “That ceiling carries out to the exterior and the panels need to line up perfectly with everything around them. Even it was off by an eighth-of- an-inch, you’d notice it,” says contractor Steve Bender, noting how that attention to detail matters throughout a home like this, as well as the easy rapport between all of the design and construction team members. “The strength of the entire architecture team is the communication, collaboration, and the quality of information that we can get from them.” The primary material palette was kept limited so as to maintain the overall sense of calm, including things like the aforementioned rift-cut white oak, also used on cabinetry throughout, custom cut limestone in
Rift-cut white oak cabinetry in the kitchen from Northwest Custom Interiors establishes a calming palette, with Mont Blanc quartzite counters, and Dornbracht plumbing fixtures.
Left: In the welcoming wine room, all the riftcut white oak storage is by Northwest Custom Interiors, with Tanner’s Craft leather and bronze hardware, and an antiqued mirror backsplash.
Right: The dining room hosts a custom table across from Howardena Pindell artwork. The blown glass chandelier by Holly Hunt and Alison Berger Glassworks replicates the look of blooms on a branch.
a hand-split finish on fireplaces and accent walls, and walls covered in neutral paint tones. In such a tableau, natural light acts as another prominent feature, from Troyer’s careful placement of windows. Clerestories at the ceiling filter light from up high, as does the expan-sive skylight over a central staircase, which washes the stone wall with sunlight at even the lowest level. “It’s a powerful design the way the architect can shed natural light down into a space that normally would never get it,” says Bender. For Farland, the goal was to foster “connection from end to end in the home,” says the interior designer. “Often times, you don’t need a lot of extra fluff when the material selections and design
details are thoughtfully implemented.” To start, the color palette was largely drawn from nature, with “unexpected pops of color in the art,” she says. As for other material choices, their luxe appearance belies hid-den functionality, such as in the upholstery and fabric selections. No one is worried about the kids coming home from soccer practice and jumping on the couch in the living room. “Everything is very durable, but it looks so refined,” says Farland. “I think that is what makes good design.” The designer then created “pockets of intimacy” throughout, from the dining room table tucked under an art glass chandelier, to the cozy couches arrayed in front of the outdoor fireplace. In the most
Left: For a quiet moment beneath the stairs, an arcing light fixture is paired with a chair from Arhaus. Natural light from the skylight washes down the limestone from Arris Stoneworks Inc.
Right: In the primary bedroom, an elegant bench at the end of a bedframe with custom headboard. A bar surprises behind a custom EcoDomo leather panel. Joseph Jeup chairs and artwork by Meyers Berg Studios brighten the living room. The dining room’s floating buffet is by Northwest Custom Interiors, with Tanner’s Craft hardware.
important room, the kitchen, where “everyone is at all times,” she programmed every drawer to support easy workflow, whether the clients are engaging in breakfast and lunch prep on school mornings, or readying to entertain via a catered dinner. Farland also peppered in surprises here and there, like a concealed bar in an office, so as to keep things from getting too serious. “I find that there’s nothing better than making your way through a sophisticated design and discovering these joyful, whimsical moments,” says Farland. “They can be very small, like the little secret push panel concealing a whiskey hideaway.” As for the yard, in addition to the pool, there’s a sports court and open lawn, as well as a covered outdoor lounge with fireplace. Thanks to landscape architecture firm Alchemie, various decks art-fully interplay with water features and seamlessly connect with the terraces of the house. This means the sense of calm extends from indoors to out, as family members can fan out around the property, whether sipping coffee and watching the sunrise from the living room’s windows, or reclining on the deck and listening to the sound of water cascade into a fountain. These moments are what the entire house is about, observes Farland: “Just having a moment
of pause whenever you need it.” ■
Left: For the courtyard outside the gym, furniture was kept minimal. Boulder pieces from Montana Hardscapes were integrated, becoming part of the landscape and also serving as furniture.
Right: The landscape architecture firm Alchemie created a number of outdoor spots to retreat to around the property. Interweaving cedar decks include several water features, providing calm areas to enjoy the extensive outside space.
