SIGNATURE ELEMENTS: THE TRADITIONAL GATHERING SPACE
dramatic timbers soar over this Jackson, Wyoming dining space, but the texture also softens the room with rustic coziness.
The dinner table has been called the greatest theater, the place where the best lessons have been learned, the place where the art of conversation, etiquette, and sharing endure. The harvest table. The kitchen connection. The gathering place. The family table, whether set for four or fourteen, is often the linchpin of an architect’s design.
Reveling in the holiday season, Cowboys & Indians magazine recently chose two JLF Architects examples (including at The Creamery, pictured above) for their inspirational Western roundup, “Thanksgiving, Turkey, and Gorgeous Dining Rooms.” Some spaces “favor the clean lines and white walls of urban minimalism,” Cowboys & Indians writes, some “a casual and classic kind of country space – a dining table where one might carve a turkey at lunch before playing a round of dominoes later that night.” But most important to a successful dining room? That it feels like home, the quality JLF strives to impart for our clients in every space – and especially those where families gather.
To share a meal is one of the oldest rituals. Food replaces expressions of love when words are no longer sufficient. Dinner can be a celebration, a tradition, a milestone of trust. To experience time over food and drink and conversation is to create a bond with other people. For these reasons, cultivating the perfect gathering spaces are a balance of scale, materials, and lighting.
Looking Glass Farm stays true to its country roots with a harvest table that links fluidly to the main living area.
Should it be a casual, open space that spills into the living area? And intimate nook in the kitchen? Or a grand space for formal place settings and multi-course gourmet fetes?
Dramatic elements like the dining room placed over a water feature in this Fish Creek Woods residence in Wyoming create unforgettable settings to share a meal.
Through the holidays these gathering places seem to matter most, these are the times when we light the candles and linger over plates, glasses and good food shared with fine people.
ABOUT JLF ARCHITECTS: Building timeless structures rooted in integrity and simple elegance, Jackson Hole, Park City, and Bozeman-based JLF Architects applies distinctive solutions and materials to create place-based houses marked by the influences of landscapes from the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern Seaboard. Their award-winning perspective is powered by inspired design and an exacting eye for placement, an ethos that stems from the unity of nature, beauty, balance, and imagination. JLF Architects has established a genuine alliance with Big-D Signature, built over 17 years of working together, to create a streamlined design-build process that benefits clients. Winners of Mountain Living magazine’s 2016 Home of the Year, the JLF Architects and Big-D Signature design-build team unites passionate architects with dedicated builders to enable the collective imagination of visionary artisans working with visionary clients. For more information visit www.JLFArchitects.com.
