Flying T Ranch, Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, Big Sky, Montana

Flying T Ranch is located in a lightly forested mountain meadow overlooking the South Fork Stream in Spanish Peaks Mountain Club. This 4,600 square foot Mountain Modern home, surrounded by aspen groves and a conifer forest, intertwines clean forms and lines with rustic and modern materials. The exterior of Flying T Ranch is an expression of rustic vertical wood and a horizontal rain screen application. Simplistic wood beam outriggers and a large mono slope roof with glazing creates a balance between modern and rustic.

A ‘less is more’ approach was taken on the design and detail of Flying T Ranch. The stone work, done in a Parkitecture style, adds to the rustic look with rough edges and changes in depth. Lighter ‘chalky’ toned palettes of woods and stone combined with hot rolled steel in black and pewter finishes create a subtle contrast to the interior and exterior color schemes. Perforated steel railings, steel beams and delicate steel trusses are used to enhance the color from the chalky color palette of the paints, stone and wood to create a unique blend of color and material.

Flying T Ranch, oriented towards the south, utilizes the large south facing glazing throughout the home to gain solar energy through passive heating and natural light. Strategic powered windows are located at the highest points of the house to allow for a passive chimney application when required. Polyurethane insulation is used for all exterior walls and roof systems to reduce heat loss through the walls while custom Unilux windows give the glazing an upgraded standard with less air leak. A rain screen application on the exterior wood siding gives a rustic wood look with a modern twist through the one-inch air gaps that exposes the black background it sits above. The rain screen application creates a capillary break to allow drainage and evaporation therefore extending the life of the material. This residence is projected to be a Net-Zero Home. Net-Zero is defined as producing enough energy (as through solar panels or passive heating) to offset any energy consumed.

(photography by Whitney Kamman)