Where the Mountain Meets the Fire
A mountain family room designed to hold both scale and stillness — without sacrificing either.
Suncadia sits in the Cascade foothills, and the homes there have a specific character: tall, heavy, and dark by nature. Timber frames. Stone walls. Forest light. The family room in this project had all of those things, and a volume that most rooms don’t get to be. The challenge wasn’t making it grand. The room was already grand. The challenge was making it quiet.
A vaulted ceiling with exposed wood beams, a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, and a double-height wall of dark-trimmed windows facing the forest. The architecture was doing its job. The design work was about what you layer into that without fighting the bones of the room.
Designed to Hold the Volume
The fireplace wall is the anchor. Floor-to-ceiling stone in warm tones that reads as part of the mountain rather than a surface material applied over it. The TV is integrated into the stone — not an afterthought mounted above it, but built into the composition as a functional element that disappears when not in use.
The furniture selection was about scale first. Oversized sectionals that hold their own in a double-height room. A coffee table substantial enough to ground the seating group without making the floor feel crowded. The vaulted ceiling means pieces that would look large in a standard room read as correct proportion here.
The Work Begins With One Conversation
We hold a limited number of consultations each month and are selective about the projects we take on. If you’re ready to discuss yours, we’d like to hear about it.
Full room looking toward the fireplace wall — Suncadia family room, Cascade foothills
Scale That Swallows Comfort
The volume was the problem. Rooms with 20-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling stone walls read as impressive and feel as cold. Every furnishing selection that would work in a standard living room disappeared into this space. The architecture was right — the challenge was making the room feel inhabited.
Suncadia vacation homes present an additional layer: they need to function for a family with children on a casual weekend and hold their own when guests are present. The room had to work at both scales — informal and deliberate — without requiring different arrangements for each.
“A room this size only works if it can feel like two places at once — grand when it needs to be, and quiet when you want it that way.”
Layering Warmth Into Mountain Architecture
The stone was already there. The beams were already there. The design work was about layering material warmth into those bones without covering them up. Natural wool textiles in neutral tones. A rug large enough to anchor the seating group — not just rest beneath the coffee table. Side tables and accent pieces that add warmth at eye level where the stone reads as cold.
The dark-trimmed windows were intentional from the builder. We worked with them rather than against them — selecting furnishing tones that echo the dark frames rather than contrast them. The result is a room that reads as part of the mountain from outside and as a coherent interior from within.
Lighting was layered: fireplace as primary, floor lamps to anchor the seating corners, pendant fixtures that work at the scale of the vaulted ceiling. No single source dominates. The room transitions from bright and open in mountain daylight to warm and gathered at night without requiring a scene change.
Frequently Asked
The work in this portfolio is the standard we hold ourselves to on every project — not just the celebrated ones. We take on a limited number of engagements each year, which means the projects we commit to receive our full attention from the first conversation through the final installation. If you're considering a renovation, a new build, or a full redesign, tell us about your home. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit — and what working together would look like.
Your home should stop you. Every time you walk in.
