IN FROM THE COLD When it comes to balancing aesthetics and function, beauty must go hand in hand with making sure “you’re in a comfortable chair with an obvious place for a drink or book,” Aspen Design House (ADH) founder and design director Denise Taylor tells the new Mountain Resort issue of San Francisco Bay-area luxury lifestyle mag Capture in a Q&A accompanying a 10-page feature on one of the team’s award-winning projects (which also earned a spot on the issue’s cover). Asked what draws ADH to take on a project, lead designer Gigi Podolak Knox says “Creativity … We love design challenges with a chance to try something new and support clients to push boundaries.” A second client made the same issue, where a cozy Montana cabin from Kibler & Kirch creative director and principal Jeremiah Young is shown bedecked with “personalized ornaments, twinkly lights, winter greenery, cozy fabrics and natural elements.”

SPARKING JOY Even work is fun in a ski-in, ski-out home in Montana’s Yellowstone Club where interiors by WRJ Design bring a smile with features ranging from a bird’s-eye-view office, shown, to a secret speakeasy-style wine room to an unlikely tubular slide bisecting half the house. “Sophisticated interiors … go a long way in keeping the super-fun house grounded,” writes Mountain Living, highlighting in its January/February issue how the WRJ team “leaned into blues, greens and more earthly-influenced hues” with “an array of sleek furnishings outfitted in luxe wools, furs, mohairs, woods and leathers.” Although “the slide is not the focal point of everything,” as WRJ’s CEO and creative director Rush Jenkins tells the magazine, he admits to a test run while on a site visit, adding, “It’s just too much fun.” Also in the new ML issue: congrats to JLF Architects for once again earning “Top Mountain Architects” status. (PHOTO: Tuck Fauntleroy)

ART ATTACK In 2016, Jeremiah Young opened his Stapleton Gallery as a sister business to his Kibler & Kirch interior design firm, offering a “fresh perspective on what a gallery can be.” After a brief hiatus following 8 years of highlighting Montana artists, including now internationally known indigenous star Ben Pease, and launching innovative exhibitions, Young has reopened and rebranded the gallery as KKFA (Kibler & Kirch Fine Art) under the broader Kibler & Kirch umbrella at 2807 1st Ave North in Billings that also includes the team’s spectacular new 10,000-square-foot retail home shopping experience. The new KKFA benefits from being open to the public during store hours and with a focus on original artworks curated for interiors – without losing any of the original venture’s outside-the-box creative verve.