Roger Wade Studio, Inc.

Big Sky Journal, for those of you unfamiliar with the publication, is a delightful regional magazine showcasing Northern Rockies living at it’s finest: arts and architecture, fine dining, fishing, ranching and all the things that make Montana and the West such a wonderful place to live. The 2009 Fly Fishing issue features one of Roger’s projects situated on a secluded stretch of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Island Park, Idaho. World class fishing and magnificent wilderness were the driving forces behind the creation of this fly fishing retreat.

Anglers come from around the world to fish the waters near Island Park, Idaho. The Henry’s Fork — selected by Trout Unlimited members as their favorite river — is the main draw, but add the South Fork, the Snake River, the Madison and the Yellowstone, among others, and the area is the stuff of dreams and superlatives.

Jackson based architectural firm, Ellis Nunn & Associates, together with Pioneer Log Homes of Victor, Montana created this 6,000 square foot handcrafted log home to maximize the watery views and the experience of intimate river living. See more photos here or check out BSJ’s online article.

3/4 Elevation Through Aspens

Bunk Room

Further down the Snake, near the iconic Western town of Jackson, Wyoming, sits a 7,600 square foot rustic lodge surrounded by natural wetlands and tall cottonwoods. Inspired by historic log architecture, another venerable Jackson architectural firm, Carney Architects, designed this residence to blend with the delicate flora and fauna contained on the property. From the 2009 Spring/Summer Issue:

Inside, the home has a scale that is as cozy as a historic log cabin may have been a century ago. There are no cathedral windows or giant logs to dwarf the human scale here; only the great room seems expansive, as it was designed for entertaining. Yet the dining room, kitchen and study, which flank the high-ceilinged great room, feature lower ceilings to create intimacy.

Rear Elevation at Twilight

Family Room

Haven’t seen enough? View more images of this residence here.

My last post on February 9th seems like a long time ago…and just like yesterday.

We flew south on March 6th to Orlando, FL to position ourselves, as usual, for our shooting tour of the southeastern states. The few shoots that we had anticipated photographing in the SE were all put on hold until fall, a clear indicator of the economic times. But as luck would have it, two of our clients, McLaughlin & Associates Architects and Studio Waterman, decided it was time to photograph their latest project collaboration in Hawaii, and so we worked out the details of scheduling a shoot on the Big Island.

All went smoothly with travel and shooting, in spite of the skies being not so picture perfect, due mostly to a Hawaii weather condition termed volcanic smog, or vog for short. We managed to get lucky with enough vog breaks to get the exteriors we needed, including some fabulous sunsets, which perhaps we owe, in part, to the vog.

Outdoor terrace looking out to pool and views of the Pacific Ocean at sunset

Great room looking out through pocket door to the Pacific Ocean

Dining lanai looking towards terrace, infinity pool and the Pacific Ocean at twilight

See more Hawaii photos here

As always, we sniffed out some pretty good food spots. AND THE WINNERS ARE…

For breakfast we stocked up on the local island fruits, Kona coffee, macadamias and banana bread we purchased at the Kona farmer’s market right on the main drag. Who could ask for anything more?

For lunch, the consensus was Ceviche Dave’s, a tiny little joint tucked into a small plaza behind Kona’s Home Depot. Obviously not meant for tourists, this is off the beaten path, and in fact we discovered it through our iPhone application Urban Spoon, a God-send for road warriors like us. Dave serves up a fresh catch of the day in several different ceviche flavors. We opted for the sampler to get a portion of each, then went back for seconds of the Tahitian style ono in coconut milk, with green onions, parsley, bell peppers and cucumbers. Google Ceviche Dave’s for a mouthwatering read!

The dinner winner has to be a late night treat, after shooting twilights, at the Four Season’s Lava Lounge. We shared two snacks from their pupu menu, a delectable barbecued shrimp skewer and black angus “sliders” - cute mini burgers you can gobble up in one bite. Now, you realize that with all of the other meals of incredibly fresh fish and island grown accompaniments, this Lava Lounge food HAD to be awesome. It was!

Now back in Orlando, we are spending most of our time marketing and working on our website. We return to Montana on May 9th, shifting from 80 degrees and sunshine weather to 40 and rain. Time to toughen up and get back in the saddle again.

Aloha~

Hitting newstands now, Architectural Digest’s April 09 issue features two of Roger’s recent projects. Beginning on page 125, a Japanese minka house in northern Arizona serves as a Zen-like weekend retreat for a busy couple from Phoenix in Southwest Satori. From the article:

“If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” The rhetorical question was posed by Dogen, the 13th-century Japanese scholar and founder of the Soto branch of Zen Buddhism. Nearly a millennium later, the sentiment is built into the design of a remarkable house in northern Arizona: a faithful iteration of a Japanese minka, which translates very loosely as “a residence for average folk.” Today the word minka can be used more generally to describe any house that features classic Japanese design elements.

Front Elevation

Engawa

In Rustic Redefined, a Toronto, Ontario home showcases the work and talent of our clients, architect firm Locati Architects and interior design firm Locati Interiors. The house began as an idea by the homeowners to reimagine a dilapidated cabin falling down on their property. Reimagined indeed. The result was an amalgamation of materials which invoke the aesthetic of the wild west: reclaimed timbers, rusted steel, logs, Oklahoma fieldstone and barnwood.

“An architect shouldn’t give himself away at the front door,” says Locati, paraphrasing Frank Lloyd Wright. “A house should have a sense of discovery.” This one does. The low-ceilinged, rectangular entrance hall barely hints at how the interior volumes expand, radically and intriguingly, in the rooms ahead. Some of these, such as the family and dining areas, feel so open as to seem barely contained.
“As you move through the rooms, you get a sense of space and light,” says Locati. “The ceiling starts to open up. The floor steps away. The rooms widen.” The interior space reaches its apex in the great room, with a vaulted ceiling that rises to 24 feet. Strong horizontal elements, including a hefty mantelpiece that cantilevers from the fireplace of Oklahoma stone, offset the room’s upward thrust, making it feel “open but still cozy,” says the wife.

Front Elevation

Great Room

The story begins on page 156 or you can read it online. View more pictures of the property here.

We started the New Year with a nice little chunk of work back east in upstate New York, shooting several timberframes including a restored 1800’s barn converted to a weekend getaway for a busy ad agency couple out of NYC. The home was situated just outside of the tiny village of Stone Ridge, NY, which boasts an incredible number of immaculately restored stone houses, barns and commercial buildings. Roger and I were astounded at the quaintness of the area as we made our way through tiny hamlets en route to our assignment, navigating through a fresh six inches of snow that had fallen the night before.

Restored Barn

Private residence, Windham, New York, Woodhouse Post & Beam

Welcome to our blog! It feels great to have arrived at this place with the development of our website over the last couple of years. Roger, Brett and I will be sharing thoughts and news with you as often as possible, and look forward to hearing your comments.