One of the most unusual houses in Sheridan, Wyoming, area has just hit the market.
Kendall and Joseph Hartman are selling the Lion Dog Estate, their dream “mountain-prairie zen” home designed in 2005 by renowned architectural firm Fourth Street Design Studio.
The 7,577-square-foot home, which includes five bedrooms, four full baths and one half-bath on 2.79 acres, is listing for $4.5 million — a price that the Hartmans say is substantially less than what it would cost to build the home today.
“I think for Sheridan, it’s sort of an unusual house,” Kendall told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s got some very interesting architecture inside that I would never have thought that we ought to do, but the architect did it and really made the home feel very comfortable to be in.”
Among the cool, gee-whiz features of this home is a waterfall bubble tub that incorporates color for relaxation therapy. It feels just like being in a creek at an expensive retreat — and you don’t even have to leave the house to get there.
“It’s not a hot tub, but the tub will heat, and it does have a bubbler,” Kendall said. “There’s like an exterior shell and an interior shell, and the water goes into the interior shell then flows over the side and will turn colors.”
Kendall thinks of it as her very own spa, and it’s one of her favorite places to be, especially on a cold winter day.
Still, if a guest wanted a hot tub, there are plenty of spaces that could be devoted to that, like the fully automatic heated greenhouse that’s a recent addition.
“That is a flex space,” Kendall said. “It’s all heated and it’s got a bathroom and floor heating. You could turn it into a pool. It could become a guest house. Or it could continue to be a greenhouse. There’s a lot of flexibility.”
Melting Into The Bighorns
The feature Kendall likes about the home best is the floating roof.
With no visible vents, chimneys or protruding pipes, the house has been designed to melt into its scenic surroundings, which are the Bighorn Mountains, and the tiny forest of mature Aspen trees that surrounds it.
“If you drove up to our house at 8 o’clock at night and I had all the interior lights on, it does look like the roof is floating over our house,” Kendall said.
But it’s not just a stellar effect from outside the home. The floating roof design creates a golden glow inside, too.
“As the sun is going down, we have blinds that are semi-opaque and they make patterns,” Kendall said. “The light makes patterns through the trees on the blinds. And it’s just golden in here. It’s so beautiful, I can just stop and sit here for half an hour as the sun is moving along.”
Some of that lighting effect is owed to the glass blocks that were used under the roof to give it that floating roof feel. That’s a design element that came into play because the couple had planned to build a concrete block house.
“That’s how houses tend to be built in Europe and down in Florida and stuff, and was what Joseph was used to,” Kendall said. “Eventually, he was talked into doing a frame house, which is way more understandable to everybody who is buying and living in houses here.”
But Kendall had already fallen in love with the idea of a floating roof, so that particular design element remained.
“I have no idea what that added to the cost of the house,” Kendall said. “But the way the sun moves around the house makes it really quite special to be in. It’s a happy house to be in.
“I mean, I can have some lousy things going on — we all do sometimes — but even on those days, it makes me feel better to be in this house. It’s restorative.”
Every Comfort Modern Amenities Can Provide
The play of light is not the only thing that makes the house feel so restorative. As the Aspen trees around it have matured, the home has come to feel more and more like it’s part of the mountain surroundings.
And with picture view windows all around, occupants will feel that they themselves are melting into the mountains, just like the home.
“The house is now essentially kind of a little bit of mountain forest, and we are sitting in it at this point, looking out at the mountains themselves,” Kendall said. “And it doesn’t take much of a breeze for the Aspen leaves to make their small sounds. So, it just feels really nice to be here.”
Although the occupants of the home are surrounded by nature, they’re never far from all the comforts modern amenities can provide.
“Everything in the house is automatic,” Compass Real Estate Agent Lora Greer told Cowboy State Daily. “You can push one button in the house, and it will take down every shade in the house, or it will lift them up. And each room has its own settings.”
Radiant floor heat keeps everything toasty warm in the winter. There’s a steam shower in one bathroom, there’s a humidor, and even a “man cave” that’s been set up for acoustics — the perfect retreat to kick back and listen to one’s favorite tunes.
The two-bedroom, two-office home also has a built-in sound system, a built-in cappuccino machine and bamboo floors throughout. There’s a library, four outdoor entertainment areas, a pond, and a spacious four-car garage with heated floors.
“It’s really an incredible home. I mean, this couple absolutely did not miss anything when they built this home,” Greer said. “And you have just spectacular views of the Big Horn Mountains and of Sheridan. If you see the pictures of it, you’d think it was in Italy.”
But it’s right here in Wyoming, in Sheridan.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
