Restraint may not be the most provocative word in interior design, but it certainly has its place. For instance, designer Mark D. Sikes landed a rare opportunity, in part, for what he planned not to do. The project was a classic Adirondack house set on 16 acres in Sun Valley, Idaho. “We interviewed a lot of designers, and so many of them wanted to paint everything white and completely transform the identity of the house,” says the homeowner of the existing architecture by Cleveland-based Paskevich & Associates Architects. “Mark wanted to stay true to the original design and work off of this as a strength. He didn’t view the style as something to fix.”
The western ski town is an unusual location for this woodland style of architecture, which originated in the Swiss and German Alps before being imported and adapted in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. But Sikes saw a distinct sense of belonging—and opportunity—in its elements, particularly the southern yellow pine paneling, the bentwood slatted stair rails, and a wonderfully quirky built-in hutch fashioned almost entirely of twigs. “As a designer it’s always a joy to work on a project that is so atypical,” he notes. “And we were all on the same page about how far to take the renovations. We didn’t want to erase the essence of it. A house this whimsical gives you a good bit of liberty.” It was a freedom he would use to undo the interiors’ “very western cowboy sensibility,” according to the homeowner. “The house was very thematic, which may be OK part time, but it was kitschy,” he says. “We wanted a moodier, warmer feeling.”
After all, this would be the family’s primary residence. The homeowners had decamped from Los Angeles to raise their two children in a more natural environment where they could ski, hike, and canoe and were drawn to Sun Valley’s relatively understated vibe. “The town is remote; it’s not near a big city like Denver or close to a major attraction like Yellowstone where there’s a lot of tourism going through. You have to want to be there specifically,” says the homeowner. “And it still has old ski town vibes—burger joints and dive bars and the original ski lodge and other buildings designed after classic Alpine villages.” Equally enticing was the acreage the house sits on, with unobstructed views of Mahoney Butte in Idaho’s Smoky Mountains and near the Greenhorn Gulch trail system, which offers hundreds of miles of wilderness trails.
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In a nod to the home’s Alpine influences, Sikes channeled chalet style with European sensibilities, filling the home with cozy, colorful touchstones like Pierre Frey ikats and Brunschwig & Fils chintz, along with some of his classic favorites such as striped and checked fabrics, wicker furnishings, and notes of chinoiserie. And he didn’t dispatch all traces of western style, designing an ornate mirror entirely in shed antlers, which sits above the mantel. As a family home, it needed to function well, calling for generously scaled, comfortable sofas and chairs, “and believe it or not, there are a lot of performance fabrics in the mix,” notes Sikes.
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There is a beautiful order to it all. “I think the magic of playing with so much texture and novelty is the repetition of things, whether it’s using the same fabric in different places or linking pieces together with trim and other detailing,” adds the designer. Delft tiles appear in both the kitchen backsplash and powder room wainscot, and “we sprinkled blue-and-white plates everywhere as another common thread,” he says. “Some people might be somewhat scared to layer all of this together, but these clients had no trepidation when it came to color and texture.”
It’s a fearlessness wrapped in warmth, and it greets guests on arrival. The foyer is painted in four Farrow & Ball colors—two shades of red for the ceiling and craftsman-style paneling, a faded blue on the Dutch door, and a brighter blue for the chair rail. “The millwork Mark designed is so highly detailed and beautiful, and it feels original to the house,” says the homeowner. Indeed there’s an ageless quality throughout. “We plan to live in this house a long time, and we were not looking to do anything trendy that will look dated down the road. It’s classic but executed in a way that still feels fresh and new.”
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Featured in our November/December 2022 issue. Interior Design by Mark D. Sikes; Photography by Max Kim-Bee; Produced by Carolyn Englefield; Written by Alice Welsh Doyle.
