Personal Style: Form Function & Artistic Flair

+ Story by Alisan Peters
+ Photography by David Agnello

Bridget Mullen and Michael Stern apply their personal style to create a contemporary mountain abode.

Bridget Mullen enjoys abundant natural light and a view toward the Snake River.

The open staircase to the main living level promises a New York loft take on mountain living.

The entry to Bridget Mullen's and Michael Stern's home sets the tone: exposed brick walls, a floating staircase and a swirling climb to the main floor. Sited above the Snake River, with an uncluttered view of Munger Mountain, the house used to be a standard two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath house with a deck. But when the couple decided on a rehab in 2003, their interests in fine art and Asian themes found the perfect outlet through both the artistic quality of the new construction and the art pieces they found to enliven their new space.

Great Room offers clean-line comfort and 270 degrees of light.

Great Room offers clean-line comfort and 270 degrees of light.

Keeping the bones of the home, they demolished the original garage, reseating a new structure deeper into the hillside. They then built a new floor across the garage roof, including new living and dining area, expansive kitchen and that strategic entryway. The old living room now serves as the master bedroom, complete with a deck that sits above a landscaped waterfall. The old bedrooms on the third level have been revamped to serve as two guest bedrooms with a shared full bath. Each of these rooms has a special view—the valley for the north-side room and a wooded meadow for the south-side.

But the devil is in the details, and for this couple, no detail was too small to be addressed. The den, intimate and tucked away under the guest bedrooms, is a perfect balance of proportional elements, where an oversized television that would have dominated this space has been sunk into a room-spanning cabinet shared with the laundry area behind. On one side, serene electronic enjoyment; on the other, easy access to the wiring and hi-tech hookups enclosed in the two-sided cabinet. Not to be outdone, the opposite wall boasts a similar treatment: a slatted plantation-blind-like structure that keeps the room open and accessible to the living area. Three exterior decks bring the outside in and offer each their own particular view of the wooded surroundings. Other details include: a built-in wok for Michael’s stir-fries; under-counter cold storage; a pantry area where Bridget posts her family snapshots; a workshop that houses Michael’s remote-control airplanes; a tiny alcove—that otherwise might have been walled off in the corner stairway—offers a fresh spray of flowers; and walnut doors that unify the journey from level to level and room to room.The couple's collection of contemporary fine art enchants the visitor along the way.

Four of these pieces are Bridget's favorites. Her friend Stacy Southwick created two metal and glass lamps that shed light for the sofas. And two furniture pieces were fashioned by sculptural artist Ben Roth. One, a tower-shaped chest of drawers in the dressing room horizontally swivels each drawer out of the tower on its vertical hinge. The other is a layered glass and metal coffee table in the living area that hints at the Asian quest for balance. Echoing this theme, Bridget says, "I love working with artisans, but I have artwork made by friends."