Concept, Design, Interiors (In Process)

Cardiff Mountain House is a full-time residence for a growing family, set in a high alpine meadow at 7,500 feet in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Surrounded by towering pines and heirloom aspens, the site receives over 400 inches of snowfall each year. It’s a place shaped by weather—where wind, snow, spring melt, and wildfire risk all demand careful consideration, and where the line between shelter and landscape must be both precise and adaptive.

Designed for a classical composer and an inventor–entrepreneur, the home balances solitude with hospitality, work with family life. The owners sought distinct zones for rest, creation, and gathering—spaces that could hold quiet and connection in equal measure. Constraints defined the design: steep slopes to the south, protected trees to the north, tight property lines, drifting snow, and seasonal torrents of meltwater in spring. What emerged is a choreography of three volumes, arranged around a wind-shielded courtyard and connected by elevated paths that float above the snow.

The garage volume includes a generous workshop and studio below, and a guest suite above with kitchenette, dining, and living space. The public volume holds entry, mudroom storage, an open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area, plus two compact en-suite bedrooms and a powder room. The third volume is the most private, containing the primary suite, a children’s room, and a vaulted music studio large enough for a grand piano and an overnight guest.

Together, the structures create a compound tuned to mountain life—resilient, warm, and quietly immersed in the rhythms of weather and sound.

CREDITS

Design and Interiors: Locus Studio
Construction: In process
Civil and Geotechnical Engineer: Ensign Engineering
Materials: Concrete, steel plate, fire-retardant glulam beams, corrugated steel roof, walnut (all interiors)
Windows and Doors: Glo / Schott / Schüco
HVAC: Mitsubishi heat pumps, Zehnder ERV