Shooting Star Ranch

With loving care, the Peterson family renovates a home that started with a single vintage cabin

That saying, “If you love something, set it free … If it comes back, it’s yours …” is the story of Kurt and Heidi Peterson’s beautiful home. Kurt, a local realtor with an eye for possibility, saw a vintage cabin in a meadow off Old Ranch Road 18 years ago and wanted to buy it. But at the time, Heidi said, “No way!” “There were cows, barbed wire and nothing else out there,” laughs Heidi.

The one-room cabin was quite a piece of Park City history. Local Rob Morris and his son built the cabin in Montana and moved it to Park City, where it was originally the sales office for the Crescent Condominiums. It stood where The Yarrow Hotel now stands. Once it was relocated to a meadow off Old Ranch Road, former Park City residents Blaise and Leslie Carrig bought the cabin and built a small house around it. The expanded home went back on the market in 2002.

This time, again at Kurt’s suggestion, the Petersons seized the day. “We were living in a house in Park Meadows and I was very happy there. But I drove by the cabin house just out of curiosity, and I’m so glad I did!” The Petersons purchased the home and immediately began renovations, refurbishing slate floors, repainting and upgrading the kitchen. Living in the home and doing renovations at the same time was a challenge — but it made the whole family (daughter Blake and son Tucker) feel invested in the project. “For those first few months, we put all of our furniture in storage, and we all lived in the cabin room on mattresses on the floor,” explains Heidi. “We moved in on Christmas Eve, 2002. That night, we saw a shooting star streak across the sky, so that’s when we named our new home ‘Shooting Star Ranch.’ When we woke up Christmas morning and looked out the window and saw the meadow and the only noise we heard was a horse neighing, I said, ‘Okay — I’m happy to be here.’”

Loving their country home but needing more space, the Petersons added a master bedroom and bath, office space and a TV/exercise room in 2005. “The house felt out of balance,” explains Kurt. “We wanted it to be a seamless addition — we wanted to spread the house out, but keep the nucleus — the cabin — at the center. The cabin room also needed a little TLC — improved chinking. “If the wind blew outside,” explains Heidi, “Your hair would blow back! It was also very dark in there, so we added a dormer to let the light in.” The cabin room now serves as a cozy living room where the family celebrates Christmas, each year displaying a massive Christmas tree in the corner by an 18-foot-high window.

As it turns out, Kurt has always had a love for cabins. An Idaho native, Kurt and his dad built a log cabin on their ranch when Kurt was a kid. When the family moved, he and his dad tore the cabin down, numbered every log, moved it to their new home and reconstructed the whole thing from scratch. So maybe Heidi shouldn’t have been surprised when she got a phone call from Kurt two years ago announcing, “I’m going to buy a cabin.” “What?” said Heidi. “It’s in Heber City, and I’m going to move it here and put it in the backyard.”

The cabin was built in 1886, and apparently a Heber City family raised ten children in the one-room structure. Though it had no roof, and the floor fell apart when Kurt put it on a trailer, the walls were so well made — dovetailed — that they stayed perfectly square. The antique cabin, now dubbed “Moon Beam Cabin,” is adorned with an old-fashioned wood-burning cook stove and rustic table into which visiting guests brand their initials. It has become an intimate family spot for Christmas dinners, guest sleepovers and recently, even a friend’s marriage proposal.

The Petersons have poured their hearts and souls into their home. Kurt reconstructed the Moon Beam cabin and did most of the patio and landscaping work in the backyard himself. Heidi has been the interior designer for the entire home, adorning it with warm, rich fabrics and colors, inviting local artwork and rustic and antique furniture. Heidi’s green thumb shows in multiple bursts of lush flowers, bushes and trees lining their patios and walkways. Since the Peterson home borders the Swaner Nature Preserve, the family enjoys nature shows throughout the year — visits from owls, fox, sandhill cranes, herds of elk, raccoons and hawks. “It kind of feels like ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’” says Heidi.

The Petersons often joke and call their home the “Patchwork House” because of the way it has slowly been put together over the years. But any observer will see that the family’s respect for history combined with the embracing of modern day functionality and warm style has made this home a beautiful finished product, blanketing the family with comfort and joy.

Kristen Gould Case is editor of Park City Magazine and has been fortunate enough to enjoy many lovely get-togethers in the warmth of the Peterson home.