Designing An Art-Forward Family Home In Jackson Hole

"Frank Lloyd Wright meets the West—that’s what we wanted; a house that, design-wise, would stand the test of time,” says the owner of this Wyoming home, a place she and her husband imagined as both their permanent residence and a heritage estate for their four children and generations to come. As the couple have deep ties to Jackson Hole dating back several decades, it was essential that the family sanctuary they envisioned honor the area they’ve long loved. The property they selected met the moment: 35-acres of one of the region’s iconic homesteads, it looks out toward the Teton, Gros Ventre and Snake River ranges and aligned with their goals.

Of equal importance was making certain their home would have personality and a defined point of view. Though the owners split their time between Jackson and New York City, “this was never going to be a ‘come hang your toothbrush’ home,” emphasizes the owner, “especially as we have somewhat of an edgy art component to our lives.” That’s an understatement, says designer Rush Jenkins with a laugh, noting that his clients’ extensive collection spans over 300 pieces, from beloved works attained throughout their lives to a selection of notable contemporary photography inherited from the wife’s late brother. As a result, their residence is designed art first. “The architecture considers the art; the interiors, furniture and fabric schemes are informed by it, and every decision we made complements it,” Jenkins explains. Alongside firm cofounder Klaus Baer, design lead Sabrina Schreibeis and designer Ashton Horner, he drew on his own years of experience at Sotheby’s to curate the varying works on display—even managing to seamlessly fold in standouts like a motorcycle-turned-sculpture. “Maintaining a sense of harmony with an underlying focus on serenity is the very essence of this sophisticated home,” he adds.

Architecture worthy of the land, interiors worthy of the art—those became the crucial components of the home’s creation story, with both informing each other. The structure that arose, however, doesn’t trumpet its presence. It rests lightly upon the land. Even while ringing in at more than 8,000 square feet across two stories, plus a spacious guest house, it presents a low profile. Horizontal lines, a low-pitched roof and deep eaves (elements that nod to Wright’s famed style) meet expanses of blackened steel, sounding a contemporary note against a composition of sandstone and cedar.

Sited to maximize privacy, the residence is revealed through a choreographed entrance sequence conceived by landscape architect Bonny Hershberger, with a winding drive that rises and then drops down, opening to a courtyard. From there the dwelling, nested into a hillside, beckons. “A house and its landscape should feel inextricable and, when they do, that’s how we define ‘timeless,’ ” muses architect Andy Ankeny, who helmed the design of the retreat (his former firm partner, architect John Carney, was also involved in its early conceptual stages). With an eye to both the art and the land, Ankeny, joined by project manager Jeffrey Johnston, considered the home’s refined structure as a series of simple, elegant, interlocking volumes—frames, in a sense, that subtly gesture back to the art. General contractor Mark Pollard and his team, led by project superintendent Kris Kasbaum, then constructed a balancing act of windows and walls that shift the focus between the indoors and out.

Outside, in fact, is where this home first declares itself as an art haven. In the courtyard, a site-specific steel sculpture of intersecting cubes arises from a reflecting pool. Its presence not only reads like a visual commentary on the architecture’s layered geometry, and vice versa, but also as a bold indicator of the art within, peeks of which are intentionally obscured behind a slatted-wood louver wall. Step inside and a hallway gallery vies for attention (and, thanks to some vibrant Warhols, usually receives it). Just beyond, the great room’s glass curtain wall of long-range mountain views then steals the scene. That is, before sculptural furnishings and more striking artwork divert it right back.

The home’s palette is largely a master class of soothing neutrals, with select zings of color. This helps to accentuate that every object within is a study in craftsmanship selected as a worthy companion to the artwork, describes Jenkins, pointing out details like the dining table’s inlaid bronze droplets or the jewelry-like gleam of the breakfast nook’s pendant. “Beautiful interiors are like an orchestra where each musician is singularly magnificent,” he reflects. “ ‘Come closer,’ is what this home commands in a very quiet way.”