Alpine glamour meets the American West at Caldera House, a restrained ski-in, ski-out resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming from Los Angeles firm Commune (in charge of public spaces, Old Yellowstone Garage restaurant, the casual South Cable Café, and two of the four owners’ suites) and local firm Carney Logan Burke Architects (CLB), which captured the Golden Age of skiing in four 2,000-square-feet units and the Valles and Pacana owners’ suites (as well as handled the striking architecture).
The pared down design is “quite focused,” says Commune founder Roman Alonso. Walls are mostly wood paneled in white oak except in the lobby lounge, where the floors, walls, and ceiling are lined in American walnut. “The interiors are sophisticated but not precious, they’re elegant yet comfortable,” he describes. While the five-story Caldera House is firmly rooted in its location nestled among the Teton mountains, many ideas coalesced in the design: St. Moritz in the ’50s, Gstaad in the ’60s, and Cortina in the ’70s. “We wanted it to feel super sophisticated with a mix of styles,” he says. Here, European sensibilities marry classic Americana, notably in the use of animal skins via shearling and hair on hide details. A novel solution is the oak-lined locker room that is bolstered by Native American textiles and includes a downhill ski racer logo, a totem created by Commune that pops up throughout the property.
While CLB’s design for the four units opt for a modern cabin feel, inflected with colors and concepts associated with Wyoming, owner suite Valles is an ode to the outdoors with equestrian accents and red undertones, while the Pacana suite recalls a high-end European chalet with sleek moments like a custom soaking tub with an angled back. In contrast, Commune imbued the Taupo suite with a darker color scheme, dipping the condo in gray plaster and oak millwork, and converted Newberry into a cozy den with a brighter, bolder material palette.
“We were able to create something that is very luxurious but casual and comfortable at the same time,” Alonso says. “It signals a new type of luxury, rooted in the way spaces feel rather than how they simply look.”