How wonderful it is when a client and an architect merge their ideas into a cohesive objective? The result is living space as art.

Kent Hallmeyer and Sandy Alexander were looking for just such an experience when they retained Rob Rogers, AIA Principal Architect, to remodel and add on to their cabin at Donner Lake, near Truckee, CA. The cabin measured less than 900 square feet and was more than 50 years old, located in the older West End Neighborhood of Donner Lake, where the homes reflect a late 1930’s style with some more recent homes being built from time to time. Hallmeyer and Alexander had lived in the neighborhood for quite some time. They had close friends on their street and were not interested in moving to another neighborhood. But they were ready to update their tired home. They needed more space and a new look.

Hallmeyer requested a genuine rustic Tahoe cabin exterior and Alexander was looking for a sleek Rat Pack era décor for the inside of the home. Melding the two seemingly opposite styles proved somewhat of a challenge for Rogers. “I had been dealing with both rustic and art deco themes for some time and identified with the concept,” he said.

Rogers’ initial task was to understand what Rat Pack actually meant in an architectural sense. Obviously, it was the kind of place where you’d expect to see Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford gripping cocktails. But how to apply the Rat Pack theme to the interior of a home and how to integrate it with the rustic exterior was another story. Rogers knew it would take the right selection of color, proportions, lighting and - most importantly - details. He did his research: studying the Rat Pack prototypes that were built in the Palm Springs desert during the mid-20th Century. How would he relate the interior art deco and pop art with a rustic mountain exterior? The answer lay in the repetition of materials and colors, creating continuity between spaces, tying it all together, from the outside in and back again.

Rogers used art deco forms with rustic finishes to accomplish the Hallmeyer/Alexander look. The main icon of the interior – indeed, its actual focal point – became the fireplace, finished in flamed granite. The flamed granite was carried on through the dining table and some of the main floor lighting fixtures, all of which were custom designed by Rogers to echo art deco forms. The kitchen and bathrooms were designed with broken-edge granite accent pieces - called sizzle strips - tumbled marble and granite inlays. Grouting was rubbed into the tumbled marble, in effect to stain it. “There wasn’t a hesitation. I used a lot of dusty rose, purple and red with black granite slabs to tie the themes together,” Rogers explained.

Hallmeyer suggested that no rustic cabin could be complete without some sort of big game hanging in the great room, so Rogers found him a very rare White Buffalo. Norton the White Buffalo is one of the details in this home that make it so unique. “He really pulls the themes together,” Rogers added.

Other pieces of art infused the interior with color impact and give it a pop art feel. And local art, by Roy Dryer, completed the picture. Dryer is well known for creating the Concourse de Elegance Lake Tahoe Boat Show posters for the past 25 years.

All elements of the interior – from the large spaces to the small – are potential art pieces. Cabinets become fine furniture. “The interior materials have their own textures and colors, and beautifully relate to the exterior textures and colors, however at a different scale … just as in a drawing or painting. Exterior composition and scale relates to the interior composition and scale,” Rogers expounded. “Good design should be more than just creating spaces, it involves experiencing the spaces as art. The eye is rewarded.”

Rogers added that a design is only as good as the craftsmen who carry it out. Aaron Bigelow of Bigelow Construction was the General Contractor overseeing the construction of this project. James Maneta Cabinet Maker produced the custom designed cabinets and table tops. Take it for Granite fabricated the granite elements. And Chuck Grooms fabricated the steel elements to carry out Rogers’ vision.

Rogers is the Principal Architect of RWR Art-Architecture, with offices in Truckee and Lake Almanor. The full-service firm offers residential and commercial architectural design, interior design, construction management, sketching and rendering. Visit www.rwr-art-architecture.com to see more art spaces and find out more about Rustic Mountain and Cabin Deco design.