Mountainside Manor

Clients:

MOUNTAINSIDE
MANOR

TUDOR COUNTRY HOME

RUSTIC STYLE CAPTURED IN ITS MOST ELEGANT FORM

Principal Designer Jesse Sahlani developed this private residence to offer the charming elegance of the Tudor design style in stylistic and compositional form, while capturing the rustic character of its natural setting. Set among the foothills of the Rockies, the character had to feel as if it were an extension of the landscape, and the composition as if it rolled with the topography. He captured these feelings by nestling the home into the top of a valley and cladding the entire structure with a local stone that creates a texture that is only broken by the contemporary window walls he carved out to frame views of the surroundings. The result is a body of work that acknowledges its natural setting in a refined, highly curated architectural format.

A DESIGN AESTHETIC
DEVELOPED TO WALK A
FINE LINE

Despite this rustic intention, Jesse wanted to ensure this body of work still offers such potent architectural curation that it could never be seen as utilitarian. The Tudor design style was the perfect vernacular to design within for this reason, as it allowed him to walk a fine line between the elegant richness of early Tudor design renditions and eclectic interpretations that became popular in later centuries. The lengthy history of this design style has seen a range of materials applied to it, including many examples of rustic renditions featuring old world rubble applications that continue to inspire his process.

A BODY OF WORK SHAPED BY THE SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE & NATURAL FEATURES

Before his intention could be brought to life, Jesse had several natural features to contend with that were a function of the home’s surroundings. The first being the fact that the rolling hills it is set among go on as far as the eye can see, with almost no breaks to slow the prominent westerly winds. The second is that the winters are long and snow drifts become problematic. The third is the topography. And the fourth was the existing equestrian barn on the site that had to be suavely connected.

Based on these factors, the home you see above is born of circumstance in composition. Everything from the footprint to the exterior stone, rooflines, and positioning on the property itself were all developed to contend with these natural challenges.

PROPORTION THAT CEMENTS
CHARACTER

The structure is set on an immensely private property as a function of the expansive rolling hills you experience for miles surrounding it, evoking feelings of vastness that Jesse embraced when developing the proportions. The garage wing was specifically designed to feel separate from the home. To achieve this level of visual separation, he designed a gatehouse on the opposite side of the driveway that creates the effect that you are driving into a courtyard.

As a whole, it was designed to feel rambling, using both varying roof heights, chimney heights, and columnar Juniper trees to create an evolving sense of height and scale. As a result, it feels grand without losing its quaint and charming character.