It was winter and the KAA Design team was standing in the middle of a snow-blanketed valley 10,000 feet high in the southern Utah mountains. Our client was breathing the air in deep and we could see the pressures of life being marginalized with every exhale. Clearly his 1,000 acre ranch in this beautiful American heartland was his place of refuge and retreat - he was fueling his soul.
Clear Creek Ranch is a special place where extended family and friends are treated to nature and all of the pleasures a pastoral ranch setting provides. KAA Design's job was to create the homestead that would respect and extend this setting while accommodating the Owner's extensive program. The solution was a 'village-like' assembly of various modern-ranch vernacular buildings linked by glass 'bridges', courts, and pathways. The buildings include the Main Cabin (kitchen, dining, living), Master Cabin, Carriage House (guest suites), Bunk House (kids' rooms), Amory (hunting and fishing shop), barn and several other maintenance and staff buildings.
Essential to the vision, the project was conceived to be "of the land" -an integral response to climate, vistas, natural topography and resources. The spirit of the location, including the local Piute Indian history, the native aspen tree groves, and the local elk population, was built in to site features and details of the buildings and site amenities. Also central to the concept was the physical manifestation of the communal retreat and paying respect to the generations of family history both past and future - a modern homestead.
The serenity of the architecture lies in the simple, rustic, and integral massing of the forms and use of local materials. And to keep with the integrity of the design, KAA's landscape team coordinated the restoration of the natural stream (including the 404 Federal Stream Alteration Permit) and built a private lake at the Main Cabin area. Future design and work at the ranch will lead to the culmination of the design vision and to the natural, correct sense of place. The arrival will to Clear Creek Ranch will have an immediate sense of peace and serenity that "this is right and could be no other way". Truly a retreat that refuels the soul.
