Every architect has a calling card: An unmistakably distinct style that has not only put them on the proverbial map, but also continues to attract both new and returning clientele. As a principal of Pearson Design Group in Bozeman, Montana, Justin Tollefson’s calling card is his incredible ability to take the standard “mountain house” and make it spectacular.
“There’s nothing formulaic about our approach or our designs,” he shares. “They’re all highly customized and individualized to our clients, but there’s something about being from a place where you understand it. We understand the mountains, and we use the mountains.”
So when Tollefson and the Pearson Design Group team were tapped to craft a five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in the Colorado Rockies, it was right within his wheelhouse. “We’re not trying to give our version of what we think is cool in the mountains,” Tollefson explains. “We’re trying to give our version of what we think belongs in the mountains.”
When it came to this project, which was built in collaboration with Fortenberry & Ricks, Tollefson was tasked with the unique challenge of making a stylish house that performs well in the mountains and snow. Sure, there were some functional requests from the homeowners — particularly regarding roof pitches and drainage — but the clients also wanted something “contemporary, fresh, and modern.”
To bridge the gap, Tollefson enlisted a mélange of materials that give the property a sense of place.“The old mine is right near the property,” he explains. “It’s a reflection and embracement of the edginess of steel, intertwined with some more warm woods that people always enjoy.”
The mix of ruggedness and warmth is best represented in the great room, which comprises the home’s living and dining areas. Here, reclaimed oak planks clad the pitched roof, bringing some depth to the sleek silhouette. “There’s a very simple form of a gable or a couple of gables,” Tollefson says. “We start to really manipulate that by opening up big panes of glass, giving what is a simple form a dynamic vibe and feel.”
Meanwhile, a steel fireplace with a blackened patina anchors the multipurpose space. “We wanted that fire feature to be shared by the gathering area, dining room, and the kitchen,” Tollefson says. “It’s this heavy, anchoring moment, but you can get a hint, and you’re sharing a common experience of the fire.”
While the homeowners handled all the décor, they opted for pared-back furnishings to play up the dynamic materials. The living room boasts A.Rudin swivel chairs, Amber Interiors sofas upholstered in Holly Hunt performance fabric, and “lots of Pendleton.” Opposite the fireplace lies the dining room, which has sculptural touches like Prouve dining chairs and a Lindsey Adelman pendant that hangs above a custom Mark Albrecht Studio table.
This residence’s great room might center around the formidable fireplace, but the kitchen has a light, airy quality with reclaimed oak cabinetry as well as stone-clad countertops and walls. Tollefson enhanced the kitchen’s weightless quality by trading in the typical range hood for a pop-down draft. “It’s a unique experience where the backsplash is literally a window behind your range instead of some vented thing,” he says.
The kitchen’s lightness is reprised in the stairwell, which uses a set of detailed steel handrails and heavy wooden plays to play up the vertical height and create a floating effect. “That’s what great design staircases do,” he says. “I think they celebrate the motion of walking up and down your house.”
Tollefson used oak throughout the home, including the property’s more private spaces, for its “lightness, tone, and character.” However, he opted for reclaimed patinated wood in the laundry room and bunk area. “It’s so intuitive,” he says. “If you are going to use a more robust rustic plank, you put it in select spaces that gives the home a vibe where it’s appropriate to look less precious.”
It’s that thoughtful application of materials that makes this project equal parts tactile and timeless. “It might be dynamic,” he says. “Yes, it might have big long spans of structural steel, and I might be doing these amazing things with big windows. But when you look at it, it’s very simple and pure.”
Photography by Brandon Huttenlocher.
Styling by Elaine St Louis and Pearson Design Group.
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