One Tree House
Photograpy: Timothy Thimmes
It was 1998. Out for a drive one day, I noticed that the rural property I coveted had been purchased. I was apprehensive. I’d been a longtime admirer of the stately cottonwood tree that stood there—the only tree in vast fields—holding court over the swishing grasses of surrounding meadows. The relief I felt when I saw that the new homebuilders did not chop the beloved piece of history down, but instead built their house around it, was immeasurable. Meet the Robinson family—Rochelle, Chris, and their children, Jesse (10), and twins Sophie and Will (8)—and their beautiful stone home on Old Ranch Road. Like the tree they saved, the 6,500-square-foot home on 15 acres is a standout in its field, rooted in natural surroundings and bountiful with personal touches.
It only makes sense that the Robinsons would approach their homebuilding with consideration for nature. Chris and Rochelle own Ensign Ranches, which has cattle ranches in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Chris is a huge supporter of The Nature Conservancy and highly committed to creating sustainable environments on his properties.
The fields surrounding the home were once a dairy farm. “This property has water rights from 1861,” says Chris. “The land used to be the headquarters for the Marcellan Dairy. The old cabin that stood here was the headquarters, and there were a bunch of old stone outbuildings. The dairy men used to cool the milk in the little pond here.”
“When we bought the property,” say the Robinsons, “there was an old log and cinderblock house, the tree, outbuildings and lots of old junk, including a crumbling rock wall, which we eventually rebuilt. It was hard for people to envision something on it.” But the Robinsons could.
Many of the elements in the home are recycled from days gone by. Take for instance, the trestle wood that fills the home. “We owned property in Lake Point where the railroad went through. So we knew it was out there,” says Rochelle. Chris explains, “In 1904, 35 years after the opening of the railroad at Promontory Point, the railroad decided to build a trestle across the lake—the Lucin Cutoff. Building that trestle saved a lot of time. It operated until the early 50s when the railroad built an earthen causeway. So the wood just sat there, in, and above the water. It’s old growth Douglas fir. There were 20 million board feet of wood in that trestle. There are 27,000 board feet in this home. Our builder, Arden Hess and our architect Rick Brighton figured out how to use it in our home.”
The Robinsons used a variety of the trestle wood throughout the home. Most of the wood used in the home had been pile caps—above water at the trestle. The beams used in the ceiling were never even cleaned. The graying wood still contains protruding nails and Rochelle reports that sometimes in winter, snow actually blows through tiny holes in the antique wood. “Wood amazes me,” says Rochelle. “There are places in the wood where sap is starting to drip out after 100 years.” Fourteen-inch beams support the ceiling, “and those are only a quarter of the tree. Fir trees don’t even grow that big anymore,” says Rochelle.
The floor of Chris’s office came from underwater piles. “The wood below the water was pickled in the brine,” says Chris. In the floor you can actually see waterlines like tiny waves, giving it a beautiful, undulating look.
The home is adorned with elements collected from the Robinsons’ lives. The great room fireplace was made with rock the family gathered themselves from different places on their ranches. Peruvian stone masons crafted the fireplace for Rochelle, and forged into its base an Indian grindstone that Rochelle found on their property in Boulder, Utah. Flint chips they’ve collected are also embedded in the fireplace and staircases throughout the home. “It’s the little personal things we’ve done here that mean so much to us,” says Rochelle.
A buffalo skull and yak hide come from ranches they used to live on. A chandelier is created from elk antlers, all of which Rochelle gathered herself. “It’s six feet wide. We had trouble getting it in the door,” she laughs. Stair banisters are made from lodge pole pine and aspen that Rochelle and her twin sister harvested themselves in Afton, Wyoming. Wooden signs hanging over doors came from retired trails the family has hiked on the Grey’s River. Rochelle points to the “Squaw Trail” sign pointing the way between the laundry room and the bedrooms … “That’s my trail!” she jokes.
Light fixtures in the great room came from an old airport hangar and are hung on a wooden yoke. The lampshades are real hide. “We’re cattle ranchers, so we wanted an eclectic surrounding,” says Rochelle. “A little western—a little everything. We like different things.” Rochelle’s own snowshoes from junior high adorn the walls. The rock on the home exterior is east desert rock from Vernal. “I love all of the colors in it,” says Rochelle. The kitchen floor is sealed sandstone.
Rochelle is an artist (etchings and mono prints) and has added many of her own creative touches to the home. She designed and painted the bathroom cabinets herself, using an Indian motif, and crafted bathroom tiles herself as well. “I redrew an Everett Ruess picture I admired—him just wandering off with his donkeys,” says Rochelle. “I did a block print of it and had it carved into the tile.” She crafted laundry room cupboard fronts of sheet metal (since stainless steel won’t hold magnets and this is where the kids’ artwork is displayed). Rochelle splashed acid on the doors to take the shine off, resulting in an attractive mottled look reminiscent of rusty farm buckets. In the room that holds her antique etching press, Rochelle pressed columbine and aspen leaves into the concrete floor, leaving the delicate lines of their leaves for every day enjoyment. A monoprint Rochelle created for the guest room depicts a bear skull and the title, “No Bears Are Out Tonight.”
There are no curtains or blinds in this house. The Robinsons like to admire the surrounding landscapes. Stunning views of White Pine Canyon, The Canyons and the Wasatch Crest Trail are the centerpiece of the great room. The master bedroom looks out over the warm, spring-fed pond flowing into Kimball Creek, which runs through the property. Ducks and wild geese like to light near the pond, and herons love to rest in the cottonwood. “The pond is too warm for fish and ice skating, and there’s just enough algae in it during the summer to not want to swim in it,” laughs Rochelle, “but you just can’t have a bad day waking up to this view.”
Writer Kristen Gould Case was so pleased to finally get a tour of the beautiful house on the beautiful piece of land she had so long admired.
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