White Mountain Home

The forested slopes of Lincoln, New Hampshire hide few homes as deliberately composed as the 4,011-square-foot The Client Residence at South Peak Resort. Completed by Longfellow Design Build, the home reads as equal parts modern retreat and rustic mountain home, a balance the family wanted honored in every room, from the geometric windows in the great room to the animal-print wallpaper in the powder room.

The Great Room The most striking of those moments anchors the home’s main floor. Original plans called for a single-gable cathedral ceiling over the great room. The Client requested a revision: two gables, with the fireplace centered between them. Longfellow’s team re-engineered the roof system, placing the main structural beam front to back and the accent beam side to side to support the new geometry. The result is a room with two clear peaks, and a stone fireplace clad in Vineyard Granite rising through the middle of both.

Geometric rectangle and triangle windows frame a panoramic view of the surrounding forest, their proportions calculated against the roof lines and the staircase landing below. Red cedar accents warm the walls. Black window trim, black countertops in the adjacent kitchen, and wire stair rails introduce the modern counterweight. The eye never settles on a single style; it moves between them.

The Kitchen The kitchen solves a problem specific to mountain homes: forested lots run short on natural light. Rather than mount upper cabinets along the back wall, Longfellow’s team replaced them with four windows and centered the stove and range hood beneath. A long counter runs the full width of the wall. Cabinetry continues 18 inches up the backsplash, topped by a slim shelf, and ceramic tile finishes the wall above, a detail that reads as architectural rather than decorative. A generous butler’s pantry and a dry bar with a 52-inch fridge-freezer handle the practical side of entertaining.

The color story carries here too. Eucalyptus green is the home’s primary color: cool, quiet, grounded by black metal and natural wood. Rust-colored accents in the seating and bar stools warm the palette, and gold-lined pendant lights add unexpected brightness. The Client echoed the palette even in the cookware on display, with a eucalyptus-green stand mixer and a matching Dutch oven on the stove. Cabinetry throughout the home follows the same specification: plywood construction, solid maple doors, dovetail joinery, full-extension soft-close drawers, and soft-close hinges. It’s the kind of detail a homeowner notices ten years in.

Dining, Dry Bar, and Transition Spaces The dining area opens into the kitchen with a screened three-season room to one side and the pantry to the other, giving the main floor an easy rhythm between gathering, cooking, and quiet retreat. A dry bar with custom cabinetry anchors the dining cabinet wall. The screened porch leads out onto a rear deck with a hot tub, the last piece of a daily loop that runs from ski boots in the mudroom to dinner at the island to a hot soak under the trees.

The Primary Suite and the Powder Room Surprise Upstairs, the primary bedroom continues the modern-rustic duality. The ceiling is natural red cedar in nickel-gap shiplap, and barn doors with wrought iron hardware slide open to a private office. On the main floor, the powder room delivers the home’s sharpest surprise: a black-and-white animal-print wallpaper that the homeowner had mirrored in custom curtains printed with the same pattern — a detail that rewards the second glance far more than the first.

The Rest of the House The basement holds a games room with a wet bar, its cabinetry painted in a deep Spanish paprika red that shifts the mood from the quieter palette above. A custom built-in mudroom off the garage organizes the family’s outdoor gear in generous cubbies. The children’s rooms feature built-in bunk beds. The exterior is finished in white cedar siding stained charwood, anchoring the home to its forested setting without disappearing into it.