SILO HOUSE / Paradise Valley / Montana

Design of Paradise Valley Home Starts With the Mountains and the Sky

by Alison Pride

The day is as splendid as it gets in Paradise Valley. The Absarokas glow with fresh powder against an impossibly blue sky. There is only the tiniest whisper of wind. Despite it being the middle of winter, the sun is warm. From East River Road, the house Ron Gompertz built rises four vertical stories, including a rooftop deck with 360-degree views, from the valley floor on a terrace overlooking the Yellowstone River.

Walking out on the deck leading to the front south-facing door, the bank drops away and you find yourself suspended in air, looking west to the river. Inside, a flight of stairs leads up to the main living area, and a step down to the first level above grade, where the master bedroom and an office, as well as a full bath, are located. Furnishings are simple, the rooms uncrowded. The floor is poured cement stained a deep terra cotta red. Because of the radiant heat, it is surprisingly warm underfoot.

For a while that’s all you notice, though, because the minute you step into the master bedroom,the magic happens. Framed in vertical grain Douglas fir, east- and south-facing floor-to-ceiling windows capture both the Absarokas south to Emigrant Peak and, on this clear day, the valley south as far as the eye can see toward Yellowstone Park. All the doors in the house are wood-framed, see-through glass, and the north door in the bedroom leads out onto a metal deck that runs the length of the north side and overlooks the river. For a while, you just sit and stare, and fantasize about waking up in bed every morning, rolling over, and marveling at your good fortune. For Gompertz, the house is the manifestation of a longstanding dream. Gompertz, who’s worn a lot of hats in his professional career, first saw Paradise Valley in 1993. He owned a small independent record label and was in Livingston to promote some CDs. Although he’d seen the rest of the country in his travels, for some reason he’d never made it to Montana. “I thought it was as beautiful as any place I’d been,” he says. “I promised myself I would be back.”   read more >>>

See these great articles as well:

Dwell Magazine, 'Big Dog. Big Sky.'

Outside's Go Magazine, 'Gompertz Tower House, The Other Side of Paradise.'

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