‘It’s a beautiful place, but it’s a very wild place at the same time,’ says Steve Raike, partner at architecture firm Lake Flato. Tasked with creating a new home on the breathtaking Ishawooa Mesa Ranch in the remote reaches of Wyoming, he and his team have produced a property that not only celebrates the landscape, but also serves as a shelter from it.
High up in the heart of the Shoshone National Forest, which adjoins the famous Yellowstone National Park, the summers at this working ranch are harsh, with the sun blazing down on not just this land’s owners, but also the animals they share their 200-plus acres with. These include horses, cattle, hogs, chickens and the occasional uninvited bear. The high altitude means that winters are similarly tough, so the new building had to be not just stunning, but also sturdy.
Inspiration came from the original homestead-style log cabins that are synonymous with the area and can be found dotted around the landscape. These tough, hardy homes were made using materials that were readily available nearby. The thick cedar wood that clads part of the ranch house’s façade is a modern interpretation of this look, stained black as a nod to the creosote that once protected the timber on the older structures.
What's everyone reading?
It is paired with stone sourced from Montana, just one state away – a mere hop by American standards. ‘This was, conceptually, a humble project,’ says Steve. Inside, however, the atmosphere is one of thoughtful luxury.
All of the home’s main rooms are huddled around a grand double-height lounge, kitchen and dining area, the focus of which is a monumental fireplace. Furnishings, chosen by the homeowners in collaboration with interior designer Marnie Wright, are classic, comfortable and completely in keeping with the palette of this build – wood, leather and steel feature heavily. No more so than in the kitchen, which features its own roaring fire with a built-in Argentinian grill for family feasts.
During the ongoing construction work at the property, Steve and his team would be invited to get involved in these regular cook ups. ‘We would all chip in,’ he recalls. ‘Set the table, clean dishes, all the while talking about the house.’
One of the main topics for discussion was sustainability, or as Lake Flato prefers to think of it, ‘building performance’. ‘By that we mean,’ explains Steve, ‘being really thoughtful about the way in which we build.’ It’s an ethos that is shared with the ranch’s owners, who run their land in a completely organic way and also contribute to local wildlife preservation. To this end, the decision was made to run the property entirely on electricity, utilising a ground-source pump for cooling and heating. ‘A rejection of fossil fuels is swimming against the tide for the stereotype of this part of the country,’ admits Steve, proudly.
Beside the house and connected by a sheltered courtyard, there’s a vast timber-framed barn. Used mainly as a practical place to store equipment and process crops, it has also been known to double as a wedding venue. Pull back the doors on either side and the mountains that can be glimpsed through the home’s carefully-placed windows come into glorious panoramic view.
‘You can appreciate and inhabit the landscape here without feeling tiny, insignificant and at the mercy of the elements,’ says Steve, who is clearly still in awe of this very special location. lakeflato.com
