Shelter

Fresh Perspectives

An interior designer’s home in The Colony gets reinvented.

By Natalie Taylor Photography by Malissa Mabey June 22, 2021 Published in the Summer/Fall 2021 issue of Park City Magazine

What’s better than one great design team? Two.

Six years ago, interior designer Stephanie Hunt, owner of Flairhunter, built a home in The Colony and designed it for her family and their active lifestyle. (They moved to Park City when their son became a professional snowboarder and competed in slopestyle with the U.S. Freeski Team.) “I love bright colors and eclectic aesthetics,” she says. “I created something that fit us and our zany life.”

Then Hunt and her family decided to sell the dwelling and move to Montecito, California, where they own a second home and were embarking on a major home-build project.

“We sold it partially furnished so the couple could move in immediately,” she explains. Soon after, the new homeowners hired Hunt to update the existing SoCal bohemian-chic vibe to something more suited to their personal taste. “They wanted a more sophisticated atmosphere with a muted, organic color palette,” says Hunt. “A whole different vibe.”

Between building a new home out of state and her other client projects around the country, Hunt felt the homeowners would be better served if she teamed up with a local design firm that could be closer to the project. Enter Melissa Crotty, founder, and Jen Carr Gode, partner, of Park City’s Crotty Carr Design Group (CCDG).

“Stephanie brought us on because she felt we were a good fit,” explains Carr Gode. The three women had previously bonded at Root’d, a local interior design store founded by Crotty. “Stephanie was one of the first designers to shop at Root’d before we evolved into a design group,” says Crotty.

“I shopped there a lot,” confirms Hunt. “I love Melissa’s style. We would bounce ideas off of each other, and we developed a relationship. Now, we’ll collaborate on really big projects.”

For this particular project, CCDG focused on updating furnishings, while Hunt curated an art collection and added flair and details to finish off the design. “We swapped out light fixtures and upholstery to reflect the homeowners,” says Crotty. “Stephanie uses a lot of vibrant, saturated colors. The client wanted something softer and more playful.”

The trio’s abundance of creativity refreshed the home in delightful ways. For example, a white plaster chandelier in the living room got a crisp, new look. “We dipped the chandelier in soft green paint,” says Carr Gode. “We wanted to give it more personality and make it unique.” It’s rare for a home project to escape without a dose of custom CCDG flair. “To get creative, you have to get dirty,” says Crotty.

Hunt created a bespoke ski installation in the game room as a fun family project. She collected seven pairs of vintage skis—each pair represents a member of the family—and asked each member to hoose their favorite color. Then, she had each pair of skis custom painted in lacquer by a special finish artist. “This is a metaphor for the family—everyone is different, but they all work together,” she says. “It’s perfectly imperfect. If it’s too precious, it looks like a model home.”

One of the family’s children is a Brooklyn-based artist known on Instagram as @doot_doodles. In another fun nod to the family, Hunt gathered some favorite pieces and had them framed in Lucite and hung in a nook under the stairway.

Throughout, CCDG added layers and yummy textures. “We didn’t touch anything but the furniture in a way that felt right for them and for the overall collaboration,” says Crotty. In the living room, they added customized coffee tables made by RC Ornamental, and Carr Gode layered entry tables for extra dimension.

“Think of the project as one of lateral moves,” explains Crotty. “You can’t move up because it’s at the top, so how do you shift to make it your own? Steph knew she needed to have another vision, so we tried to achieve the same level [of design], just in a different direction.”

“This whole project has been so respectful,” notes Hunt. “The house is still evolving, and it’s wonderful to see the shape it’s taking. We’ve collaborated on other projects in recent years but are now thrilled to announce a more formal commitment.”

Carr Gode agrees: “This project solidified our partnership. We’ll be collaborating a lot more in fun and interesting ways to give our clients a really unique offering.”