Basecamp

We have had the incredible good fortune to have worked (and maybe played) on some of the most breathtaking ranches in the American West. As a team, we all believe that to truly capture the spirit of a place, we first must experience it intimately. We encourage our clients to do the same.  Design and planning are inspired by the land itself, so spending time on the property to see the sun rising and setting, feeling the breezes, listening to the river roar or a brook gurgle, sitting under a majestic evergreen and taking in all that surrounds us…these are the intangibles that lead to greatness.

When designing remotely (and sometimes off the grid), it’s nice to have temporary shelter, a place to enjoy while anticipation grows and visioning happens.  Critical to our design process is being highly mobile.  We’ve stayed overnight in small guest cabins, worked from a basecamp trailer, and even pitched an outfitter’s tent to explore a new property and develop a sense of place.  We specialize in an intense 2-3 day on-site charrette process.  This is a time with clients when visioning happens, ideas start flying and dreams take shape.

On one project, our shelter was a beautiful, comfortable yurt, furnished elegantly by our clients, one of whom happened to be an interior designer.  During our first visit, we enjoyed meeting the clients, hearing their vision and experiencing the land.  In the early morning of our second day, as we talked more deeply about what the ranch could become, the husband fired up the cookstove on the yurt deck and served us pancakes, eggs and sausage in the morning sunshine.  A memorable morning with food for the soul, in that spectacular setting, inspired the design that, 14 years later, still prompts the clients to exclaim how much they love their ranch home.