JLF Design wins prestigious Home of the Year award

JLF Design Build worked with interior designer Rush Jenkins of WRJ Design to echo the natural palette of the architecture.

A contemporary homestead perched on a butte in the Teton Mountains proved to be the best example of high country architecture for the judges at Mountain Living magazine.

“Our Home of the Year judges fell in love with this project,” said Mountain Living Editor in Chief Darla Worden. The residence is winner of the magazine’s 22nd Home of the Year award, garnering a cover story in the magazine’s November/December 2016 issue.

Designed by the Bozeman-based JLF & Associates, the Jackson, Wyoming house was crafted through a collaboration of JLF’s architectural team of Paul Bertelli, Ashley Sullivan and Tyler Call, along with Big-D Signature construction, WRJ Design Associates interior design and Verdone Landscape Architects.

The turnkey design-build effort resulted in a house inspired by place and using rustic materials such as timber, stone and corten steel. Stone and glass are balanced in the framework of a homestead structure for an effect that is at once rooted in history, while punctuated by contemporary influences.

“I have always thought that perfection is elusive and that the joy is in the pursuit of it,” said JLF principal Paul Bertelli. “On this design-build project, the surprise was that by expanding the process of collaboration to not just the designers and owners, but to everyone—[subcontractors], craftspeople, managers, supervisors—it is extraordinary how close to perfection you can get. Thank you Mountain Living for recognizing that achievement; it has brought that joy to all of us.”

The award is a milestone for the architecture firm, highlighting the strong partnership with construction company Big-D Signature. The two firms work collaboratively as JLF Design Build, creating houses with integrity in relationships with clients, craftspeople and the use of ageless materials in construction. The Home of the Year showcases an example of what JLF Design Build Vice President Jason Dunlop calls the firm’s best work.

“We are just honored to be recognized with this award,” Dunlop said. “JLF Design Build has built a lot of houses, but this particular project was a spectacular combination of an incredible building site, a client who was involved on every level and our effort as a team.”

Each year, Mountain Living magazine invites homeowners, designers, builders and architects of the high country to show off their projects for award consideration. This year, the judging committee received hundreds of entries from mountain communities in eight U.S. states and British Columbia. The entries were whittled down to just 48 finalists, with the promise that the winner would be featured in the magazine.

JLF Architects and Big-D Signature have delivered almost four decades of expertise through structures rooted in integrity and simple elegance. Based on trust and respect, the JLF design-build team uses distinctive solutions and materials to build place-based houses marked by the influences of landscapes from the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern Seaboard.