Tour a Sun Valley Ski Chalet With Charmingly Retro Energy

Jennifer Fernandez

December 13, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.·8 min read

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“Keep it cool.” That was the mandate designer Julia Miller received from her clients, a California-based couple who fell in love with a quirky 1980s house in Sun Valley, Idaho, that they planned to use as an adventure outpost for family fun. The husband grew up skiing and hiking in the somewhat sleepy mountain town, and they hoped that the charmingly outdated house would allow their two kids to enjoy the same kind of childhood.

In the entry of a Sun Valley, Idaho, home, Julia Miller of Yond Interiors created a welcoming space inspired by the natural environment using classic materials like bluestone pavers and cedar wood cladding. To introduce an element of modern glamour to the mountain setting, she covered a bench by Martin & Brockett in luxe wool velvet by Rosemary Hallgarten and added a brass Lawson Fenning pendant and a Moroccan checkered rug from Etsy. Custom cabinetry gets a dose of playfulness with a linen Zak + Fox striped cushion.

“They were really into the idea of a retro home, something that no one else has,” says Miller, founder and creative director of Minneapolis-based AD PRO Directory firm Yond Interiors. Inspired by the dramatic A-line roof and, in her words, “funky layout,” the couple encouraged Miller to stay true to the spirit of the 3,500-square-foot house—and to embrace its idiosyncrasies rather than fight them. “When you start taking out the guts of a house you lose what made it charming to begin with,” the Minneapolis-based designer says. “Our goal was to design something really personal for the way this family lives. We weren’t creating it for a million people who could potentially buy this house later.”

Sticking with much of the original charm meant no sleek marble countertops or gray color palettes. Instead, Miller spent much of the project’s early days rearranging the floor plans, moving walls to convert a warren-like assemblage of rooms into multifunctional zones designed for work and play. She also installed an HVAC system—the house had none—and added and enlarged windows to bring light into the dark spaces. Taking cues from the existing cedar wood cladding on the walls and ceilings, Miller leaned hard into the ski chalet vibe while adapting the house to the family’s needs. “If we took wood out to readjust the ceiling electrical work, we had to put that back in,” she says. “The wood was the foundation.”

Shop out the look of the house here⤵

The arrangement of two-tone clay tiles by Tess that surround a relocated fireplace mirror the original wood cladding in the living room, where a vintage aubergine-hued Patate sectional sofa sits with shearling-covered lounge chairs from Design Within Reach and a Waka Waka custom cocktail table.

In the living room, Miller, who worked with Hobbs Builders for the construction, moved a central fireplace to an exterior wall and extended the existing cedar wood planking to the ceiling to create a cozy, cocooning effect. The fireplace’s old footprint became a wrapped bookcase, which anchors a small breakfast nook that doubles as a puzzle and games center. In the bedroom, the cladding goes modern with a dramatic board and batten treatment. “It’s a huge space with very high ceilings, so this gives it a lot of dimension,” she explains.

The recast shelving system closely adhered to the dimensions of the original shelving and was paired with honed soapstone countertops in the kitchen. The dusty pink tiles recall a desert sunset, a nod to the homeowner’s youthful upbringing in the American Southwest. Offering a masculine counterpoint to the rosy hue are the unlacquered copper sconces by Lumfardo above the window.

“I held onto that table forever waiting for the right client,” Miller says of the vintage burl wood piece in the dining room. It sits atop a grassy hand-tufted rug from Etsy and is flanked by vintage Gangso Mobler chairs. An iconic Noguchi light sculpture hangs like a paper moon above the picnic-like scene. Pendants by Verner Panton for &Tradition and vintage Arthur Umanoff bar stools create separation for the kitchen beyond.

Though the original wood was a dominant factor in establishing the house’s warm color palette, Miller also drew on desert-inspired hues (the husband spent some of his youth in the Southwest) and shades that channel the surrounding natural environment to break up the monotony and infuse the space with visual texture. “The colors we picked throughout the house straddled the retro 1970s and ’80s feel and what you might see outside,” Miller recalls. Dusty pink tiles conjure a desert sunset in the kitchen backsplash, while cool blues, as in the Louis Poulsen pendant above the travertine game table, evoke the small creek just beyond its window. An aubergine ribbed cotton sofa in the living room summons the groomed corduroy of ski trails nearby, which will no doubt invite the family for years to come.

A Louis Poulsen pendant—in a cobalt hue inspired by a nearby creek—hangs above a petite travertine game table, where the custom bench is upholstered in a wool plaid fabric by Pierre Frey and vintage Afra & Tobia Scarpa chairs are refinished with cognac leather. “We used natural materials as much as possible,” says Miller. “We were trying to make it all look like the neighborhood the house belongs in.”

The basement family room is a playful space outfitted with custom cabinetry in Farrow & Ball’s India Yellow and another aubergine-hued sectional, this time from Crate & Barrel. The cocktail table is vintage.

“The clients were heavily invested in making these little unexpected moments of delight,” Miller says of the plastered and curved shower in the primary bathroom. “We were trying to marry so many layers of meaning but more than anything make it functional because, in the end, this is a home that’s going to be used to death.”