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Top 5 Features of Modern Mountain Design
Get design ideas for adding modern mountain features to your home with inspiration and tips from the visionaries of DIY Network's Blog Cabin 2015.
Eric Perry
The features of todays' modern mountain architecture take their cues from design elements established long ago. Open floor plans, the use of local materials, exposed craftsmanship, a pleasing color palette and low maintenance landscaping, are timeless features that make for easy living in the mountains.
Unique Shape of the Structure
Jason Kisner
DIY Network's Blog Cabin 2015 is a simple ranch style structure, perfect for this years modern take on mountain architecture. Its 1970's boxy design has a single ridge, low-pitched roof made of standing seam metal that is both a nod to traditional Idaho farm house style and yet adapted into much of today's modern architectural features. Large windows abound letting in lots of natural light and stunning views of the beautiful 25-mile long Lake Coeur d'Alene in which it overlooks.
More Examples of Modern Mountain Design
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Inside, the home offers an open floor plan. "The furniture layout will define the living spaces," says Dylan Eastman, the build/design manager on the project. The open living/dining and kitchen share the main floor with the master bedroom. On the lower level built into the berm are the guest rooms, kids bunk room and game room. An open central staircase connects to the two levels.
Local Materials
Eric Perry
It's about letting the natural materials be what they are. The perception is that a mountain house has to be like a lodge but the opposite is to find simplicity by pairing things in their humbler forms.Laurie March, design coordinator
Modern mountain architecture, like its more traditional forebearers, typically incorporates local materials like native cut timber and locally quarried stone left in their natural states in its finishes.
At Blog Cabin 2015, Douglas fir and oak was left untreated to bring out its natural characteristics and beauty. Exposed steel hardware holding up the trusses on the main level and concrete walls and floors on the lower level of the structure all lend a utilitarian aspect to the home. "In modern architecture the tradespersons work shows through," says Laurie.
Oversized Windows and Doors
Eric Perry
To take advantage of the magnificent lake and mountain views, large glass windows punctuate the walls. Inside, flat slab wood doors void of panels that would clutter the clean lines of the modern feel and date the structure allow for privacy in the bedrooms and baths.
On the lower level, a mill-finished aluminum frame multi-windowed garage door can be rolled up to allow easy indoor/outdoor living from the game room to the patio overlooking the lake. "It’s like a car dealership door," says Dylan. "It has a modern flair."
Neutral Color Choices
Eric Perry
"To compliment the natural wood and stone materials and steel accents, modern mountain design tends to opt for neutral color palettes of whites, grays and blues rather than bolder reds, yellows and greens," says Dylan. "With wood cladding on the walls, you want to bridge the homeyness and softness with the clean lines."
Laurie stresses that rich, saturated neutral colors like grays, taupes browns and creams, are strong and interesting for the main living areas while the bolder colors like mustard, plum, teal and green would liven up the play spaces of the house. "There’s a really different light from summer to winter here so the neutrals would work," says Laurie. "But no pastels, they're too wimpy."
Low Maintenance Landscaping
Eric Perry
When visiting a second home or vacation retreat, no owner wants to spend all their time maintaining a yard when they could be out boating on the lake. Native trees, grasses and shrubs will thrive with little attention and provide a natural feel to the yard. "Ponderosa pines, Douglas firs, white pines and oaks make up the canopy of the surrounding forest at Lake Coeur d'Alene," says Dylan.
Mixing in natural grasses, native boulders and rocks with the flagstone patio, the landscape will all blend together. "It will blur the lines between natural and man-made," says Dylan. Drought-tolerant plants keep maintenance chores at a minimum. "We’re not putting in plants that need a lot of water," says Laurie. "You don't want to be a captive to watering. The plants will be natural to Idaho."
