Crafting Simplicity

An artist and architect collaborate to create a thoughtful, small home

By Megan Ault

Stephanie Sandston calls her 850-square-foot Gallatin Gateway home "an experiment." And as far as housing costs go, it wasn't an expensive experiment.

"My neighbor Pete Stein is an architect with a great mind for small spaces," said Sandston. "I bought two adjacent lots with a 72-foot wide trailer, garage, some outhouses and broken down sheds on them. After deciding not to salvage the trailer, Pete and I sat down to see what we could build for around $35,000."

Sandston is careful to add that the $35,000 spent reflects building costs back in 1996, as well as the benefits of working with a friend who designed and built the structure.

Also, the house was originally 600 square feet until six years ago when she added a room off the kitchen. The 250-square-foot inglenook serves as a sitting room where friends gather by the fireplace, as well as a guest bedroom.

"Everything should have at least two to three uses when designing small spaces," said Sandston, who is also the owner of Shack-up, a modern furniture and art showroom with interior design offices in Bozeman. "The experimental part was trying to create as small of a space as I could that would keep overhead costs and heating bills low, yet still function on every level. I've actually had parties with 40 people in this house, and it works."

Stein, who grew up in Montana and has worked as an architect here for many years, credits some of his present inspiration in designing modest-sized homes to having worked back East for a custom yacht building company.

"Working with boats certainly influences my sense of size and economy in designing spaces. Even though many of the homes I work on are bigger than Steph's, I have drawings for homes even smaller than hers."

The galvanized-metal sided miniature farm house with Craftsman details has achieved some notoriety over the years, appearing in several articles, including a book entitled Retreats: Handmade Hideaways to Refresh the Spirit. There are also several newer houses on North and South Black avenues that appear to be influenced by the design.

Although the house is fairly new and feels contemporary, it is filled with stories one might expect to find in an older home, in part because of the use of reclaimed materials throughout. There are gracefully aging doors salvaged from the old Ryan Lab on the MSU campus before it was torn down. The clear vertical grain Douglas fir stairs were also constructed from wood taken from the lab. The bead board kitchen cabinets were taken from an old shack, and the kitchen counter island was purchased from an old folks' home.

Upstairs is Sandston's bedroom and bathroom, where the tub was found "in a junk pile behind Pete's house," and the sink and barn-style bathroom door were taken from a dilapidated garage that Sandston ended up removing.

One of the outbuildings behind the house is now reclad with metal siding, fitted with windows and will serve as a "growing room" for starting garden plants. Next to it is a new partially finished art studio and office, designed by Stein and Sandston on a napkin over breakfast at the Gourmet Gas Station one morning.

Sandston's comfort in mixing historic and contemporary approaches comes through in details like the use of shiny metal press plates bought from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle as ceiling panels, which lends a feeling of spaciousness to the dining room. The floors are acid etched concrete installed with radiant heat that efficiently heats the whole house. Colorful tiles on the kitchen walls lend a cheerful finish.

"I really try to get that across when working with clients - that modern pieces and antiques can blend wonderfully. Also, an eclectic mixing of styles is great for making sure that artwork doesn't appear too 'heavy,'" said Sandston.

Sandston has an accomplished eye for collecting and purchasing old things to achieve a desired effect, which is perhaps a quality she refined in her years before settling in Montana, while working as an art director for in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Light fixtures throughout the house all have different stories.

"The kitchen fixture is from an old hotel in Butte, and in the bedroom I have a 1920s fixture from a Spanish-colonial house in Los Angeles. The fixture between the bedroom and bathroom is a 1930s Bake-a-light fixture, which is just an old dime store quality light," said Sandston.

Although Sandston was able to build her house on a budget, the reclaimed materials throughout were not incorporated as a strategy for saving money.

"A piece has to be sound, aesthetic and interesting for me to want to use it," said Sandston.

In fact, it's not uncommon for reclaimed materials to actually cost more than brand new products.

"It's popular to use reclaimed materials right now," said Stein. "But it's not necessarily cheaper. There's labor in finding and restoring materials."

Dave Schaub, owner of Refuge Sustainable Building Materials in Bozeman, agrees.

"You either spend money or time - or both -- rummaging through waste piles at job sites. But people like things that look old, so even with new construction people are buying new materials that are distressed to appear antique."

While Refuge does sell some reclaimed wood, their main focus is actually on selling new materials made from recycled products, such as insulation made from recycled denim or Eco-shakes, a roofing material made from recycled wood and vinyl.

But more than trying to keep up with the latest trends, Sandston has combined her own contemporary tastes with things of the past in part to positively blend in with the existing community.

"I wanted the architecture and space to be reflective of my modern needs, but still fit in with the vernacular of the town," Sandston said.

By "town," Sandston is referring to Mill Street, the heart of Gallatin Gateway where a community center, school, pizzeria and Stacey's Bar all line the street, intertwined with the homes of people who've frequented these places for decades.

Building a home "in town" is in part why Stein was excited to collaborate with Sandston on her home.

"As a philosophy for accommodating growth in Montana, I would like to see people thinking about little towns like Clyde Park, Logan, Manhattan, Central Park or Willow Creek," he said. "I feel better building a little house in a ramshackle town like Gateway than a place where we have to build roads."

Sandston has lived in Gateway for nearly a decade now.

"When I first came here I was crazy about it, and I still can't say enough good things about this place. It's a nice life, running a business in Bozeman and coming home to a funky little community. People here really take care of each other."

Life in Gateway certainly offers a slower pace than she was used to in Los Angeles. When she began working on her house, it seemed to be with the idea of defining for herself what would be enough. Now, to hear her discuss the finished product, she expresses the abundance in having achieved that.

"I just want to live well," said Sandston. "My needs are pretty simple, and they're all taken care of here. I have my music, books, and the fireplace. I walk to the river, feed friends here, and sometimes even walk across the street and go dancing at Stacey's, the best cowboy bar in Montana."

Megan Ault is a frequent contributor to At Home.

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