Property Description
Local artist Parks Reece learned 2 years ago that a perfectly good Paradise Valley log cabin was scheduled for destruction. So he decided to give the house a new home on a 60-acre plot he owns on Cokedale Road, west of Livingston. The route was difficult and included country roads, Interstate 90, and crossing the Yellowstone River over Carter’s Bridge, a span that is narrower than the house. The final stage included an 1800s wagon trail.
Over the following months, Reece oversaw a team of artisans as they transformed a basic cabin into a gorgeous cozy home that marries elements of the old west and modern design. Sawn century-old juniper fence posts, naturally beautified by weather, adorn closet doors and trim work. They also serve as a coat rack, with nails that once supported barbed wire now holding garments. Antlers from Reece’s personal collection serve as towel racks, pot hangers in the kitchen.
Reece and his crew put a lot of labor and imagination into the project. Travertine and white marble accent the kitchen and bathrooms. A trap door, with a secret rope pull, provides hidden storage. Artisans threaded willows from the nearby creek, along with more antlers, into kitchen features and closet doors, re-purposed 115-year old ornate ceiling tin into a wall, built a stone patio, and crafted an outdoor stone fire pit in a private meadow.
As an artist, Reece enlivened the cabin with “sculptures” and working pieces of art, not basic interior design features. Besides being an optimal living space he considers the final product a work of art in itself and a social statement. The cabin was saved from destruction and given new life with a minimal impact on the environment.
Reece’s own designs have been etched into the glass doors and he painted a mural of the sky on the ceiling. Here you will also enjoy 60 acres to roam, and a picnic area near the lovely stretch of Miner Creek.
