The Landing at Whitefish

Written by AZ architect & designer, Rob Ludden

views facing north to Whitefish Mountain.

Brad and Sydney’s great narration of the evolution of the design from a “plane-centric” apartment to a true home is spot on. Especially the few days (weeks, months?) deciding on that 5-degree rotation on the site location. And the compass. Too much fun.

For me, it began with a suspiciously vague email (to Terri and me while we were traveling):

“Next Spring.” Ha. Well, we were only one year off, perhaps.

With an “always interested in discussing ideas” reply, we kicked off a fun romp of a design journey which has been a whole lot of fun to navigate with Sydney and Brad. By the way, it went way beyond a ‘brain pick’.

The result is a place that embodies the personalities of Brad and Sydney, and is grounded in the place they have chosen to make home.

In thinking about the latest iteration, there are several embedded ideas which will help to understand some of the big moves we will see as the house is realized. Here I get a bit esoteric. No apologies.

Foremost, it is all about the view. Brad could not stop pounding on the view to the mountains. It reminded me of the concept of the pueblo town square. A space where the wall is the distant mountains as is the river/lake, which everyone knows. Sometimes over the horizon and unseen, but always part of our lives. Not the artificial wall of any room, our world is defined by a connection to the land. This is the place where we live.

As we worked to realize this idea, the walls began to disappear.

Then, suddenly Brad texted me from one of his many, many unsuccessful elk hunts. As amazed as I was, being a non-hunter, that you actually texted the elk in order to hunt them, it occurred to me that we were also creating a camp. Here one can lie in bed at night or sit by the fire and look out at a night sky full of stars. In the morning you see the sun light the peaks. Very cool. Texting under the stars.

A scene from one of Brad and syd’s backpacking trips. camping served as inspiration to create the feeling of indoor-outdoor living throughout the house.

Well, until the night train rumbles through, whistle blowing.

The house is also a gathering place. Friends and family arrive, sequencing through the Foyer and an antechamber and emerging into the Great Room, all with glances to the views beyond. Now christened the “Viking Hall”, the great room is an undefined space in which gatherings are held, meals are prepared and eaten, fireside chats are had, movies are watched, all while glancing lovingly at the hanger housing that additional family member, Brad’s plane.

Now that I think about it, where exactly is that plane, Brad?

The great room (aka the “viking hall’. Shown without the kitchen island and furniture, of course.

We now have a gathering place in the field. To anchor the design, the devil is in the details and we need a set of rules. Modern Rustic provides the guidelines. The spaces are all about clean lines. A stage background against which all the wonderful clutter (all perfectly arranged, I hasten to add) of daily life is featured. The surfaces are softened and also animated with art, lighting, furniture. Sydney and Brad are selecting wood cabinetry, woven light shades to warm the space. Furniture is next.

The light and shadows of the sun through the south window above the sink countertop will clock the day. A sundial of sorts. In winter, the low sun penetrates almost all the way to the north wall of the great room. The Sun Room warms through those serious windows. Albeit for those short days. Very Scandinavian.

The Sun Room’s South Facing windows will let in a lot of light and warmth. The East facing window has view of the great northern.

south-facing windows of the Great room let in light. Sydney and Brad plan to build a big farmhouse table to serve as the kitchen island.

In the warm season, (all 5 months of it?) the windows open to catch the breezes and the whole house airs and cools. The sliding wall of the great room opens (toward the hanger….) for many gatherings to be held on the patio. Taking the west wall of the Viking Hall outside. So the west wall of the central plaza is….the Hanger. Very esoteric.

Back view of the house showing the walls of windows that open up to the backyard and patio

I could go on about the imminent “Hanger club” (the future space built out of the hangar itself). However, that is all Brad’s, although he and I did align on the important selection of the floor urinal that will be installed. The Hanger will be a fun space, perhaps even including movie nights.

Which will be important, because I am not convinced there is an actual airplane. Kind of like Brad and the Elk. Do either really exist?

aerial view of the lot showing the placement of the house, hangar, and shared runway for common access to the strip.

Rob’s first general pass at our dreams of a ranch-style home concept came back after a week later and we opened it with eager eyes. It was pretty much perfect from the start. Sure, over the next few months we would take it through countless iterations and tweaks, but the initial concept has largely stayed the same. The general look of Rob’s plan, and his feel and concept for a floor plan was exactly right.

the final, submitted plans! scroll down to see the evolution of how we got here.

At this point in the process, we needed to take a trip out to San Francisco and met with Rob to walk through the design layout in-person. It was a tedious process of deliberately questioning the flow and function of every room, but I loved being able to (virtually) walk through the house and learn how to use SketchUp, a 3D modeling app. Our visit was made even sweeter with Rob and his wife’s hospitality complete with a trip to the iconic neighborhood joint, Zeitgeist, and getting to cuddle with the new litter of kittens Terri, Rob’s wife, was fostering. (Terri has fostered over 100 kittens and mama cats! For friends in the Bay Area – go check out Allie Pals Cat Rescue!)