Bigger Is Better

If you think there are more and bigger windows in homes today, in Jackson Hole and beyond, you’re right. ‘We were having a hard time meeting energy codes in the 1990s,’ says Paul Bertelli, principal at JLF Architects, which has offices in Bozeman, Montana, and Jackson Hole. ‘Especially in Teton County, we couldn’t do things like an entire living room wall of glass because the heat loss was radical. But now, even as energy codes have gotten stricter, we have developments in glass technology and frame and steel and bronze technology that give such improvements in heat loss that we can do whole walls of glass in Teton County.’ So begins the article “Bigger Is Better” in the Summer 2025 issue of Homestead, discussing how technology has changed how windows are used in Western design, allowing for the advent of Mountain Modern style.