Home Is Where the Art Is

With broad expanses of white walls and perfectly modulated light, this space is the very picture of an artist’s studio—and it was crafted as carefully as Monkman’s mountain landscape.

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In the house’s front room Monkman relaxes on a stool from local retailer Andrew Richard Designs. A new window system draws in sunlight and views of the front courtyard designed by local landscape architect Terry McGlade, the building’s former owner.

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Monkman’s house has a quiet presence, its front half hidden behind a fence of cedar two-by-sixes.

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Inside, white paint lightens up the middle of the building. A vintage Danish dining set and Cloud pendants by Frank Gehry for Vitra define the dining area.

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An Eero Saarinen Womb chair and a vintage floor lamp hang out on the downstairs landing.

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Skylights provide crucial natural light in the dining area and bedroom.

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The adjacent extra-wide stairs provide easily accessible storage space; the custom bookcases, made of the same Douglas fir plywood as the treads, follow the rise of the steps to the bedroom.

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The bedroom mixes a bed and lamps from Ikea with a deep, luxurious bathtub (an inexpensive model from Neptune). The artworks include original prints by New York artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz.

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Just up a ladder is the green roof, which is planted with maintenance-free sedums and tall grasses near the patio that Monkman tends carefully.

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