Intown Living & Loving It
City Living with a Mountain View
Photography: Tim Brown and Bill Timmerman
Jake Peters' mountain perch provides the best of both worlds, "zero time to get to recreation and zero time to get to the city."
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Downtown Ketchum is alive with sidewalk cafes, delis, movie houses, art galleries and high-end shops that create a big city walk-to-everything lifestyle luring more people to choose intown living. Whether in a penthouse, townhouse or hillside home, many locals are now experiencing urban living in the mountains.
“Townies,” as they affectionately call themselves, are a tad different from other locals. Townies are the folks that have chosen to escape the huge city, but can’t resist living within one. They don’t mind (too much) the sounds of people on the street or the trucks delivering their loads. It’s the city’s breath that awakens them and lulls them to sleep when they are not escaping to nature that is much nearer than they have ever had before. It is a land hold that they do, a position they take that definitely can cost a lot more than fleeing to the suburbs, but is worth it for the ability to chart a day lived on foot, filled with stops with friends and friendly merchants who sell you The New York Times to read over a cornetti at Cristina’s Restaurant and Bakery. Pick up fresh flowers from Ketchum Flower Company then mosey over to Atkinsons’ to pick up some things for later. Stop in at The Community Library for a book on CD to listen to on your hike. When you come back tired, drop by CIRO’s for a meal to go and, if the weather is nice, enjoy it al fresco in one of the city’s pocket parks where you can greet old friends or observe tourists.
Evenings are full of possibilities. Experience a theater opening, concert, lecture or a movie, before heading to any one of many gourmet restaurants serving everything from prime rib to paella. It’s all so easy and so social. Lives are rich and full in a small town with the advantages of a big city and the beauty of the wilderness.
It’s a life spent out of your car and in touch with community and those who live it, love it.
Mountain Perch: The Best of Both Worlds
The site is magical,” muses Jake Peters. “We’re in the mountains and we’re in the middle of town.”
Jake and Trina Peters’ beautiful mountain home is snuggled so well into the hillside on the edge of northeast Ketchum it is barely viewable from anywhere. The contemporary glass and concrete house is accented with untreated white Atlantic cedar that blends right into the rocks of the soft brown hills. Glass walls open to gorgeous views of town, Baldy and Dollar from every room while the back of the house has a great view of Kinder Peak. Their backyard is 16 acres of Idaho wilderness.
The couple designed and built their home with Arizona architect Marwan Al-Sayed whose major theme is light. Besides the glass walls of the house, there are additional skylights and even opaque windows within the interior of the home that open it to light. The living room, dining room, and kitchen area are one large spacious sunlit area but can be made into more intimate spaces by sliding moveable walls to separate the rooms. From the center kitchen island, you can see the dining room and living room and the expansive mountain and city view from both.
The couple have always enjoyed the perks of urban living and wanted to continue a cosmopolitan lifestyle after leaving their high-powered jobs in Boston to raise their now eight-year-old daughter Katie in the mountains. When they discovered Ketchum, they found what they wanted.
“We like the social interaction,” shares Trina Peters, elaborating that homes in town are closer together with smaller lots so most everyone walks and knows each other, creating much more of a community feel. Being in the center of things also makes it more convenient for friends to pop in for a play date or a drink before walking to dinner at a local restaurant.
“You get the best of both worlds here,” says Jake Peters, “because now we have zero time to get to recreation and zero time to get to the city to get done whatever you need to get done.” Jake can walk to his job in town. Trina can walk to the Sun Valley Center for the Arts where she serves as president of the board. And Katie can walk to school.
For an active family, central location is a big plus. “If you’re organizing some recreational activity, like a bike ride,” Jake continues, “everybody comes to you. All rides start at your house because you live in the center—whether we head up to Galena Summit or out Trail Creek.”
In fact, the Peterses appreciate the importance of good central places for families to gather so much they decided to create one for everybody in the middle of Ketchum—Leroy’s—the ice cream shop in the pocket park next to Sturtevants. “Leroy’s is wonderful. We’re excited about it,” adds Trina enthusiastically. “It’s a nice place for people to go and hang out. You sit outside and eat ice cream and you’re helping out the schools.” All profits go to local schools and the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
Trina Peters loves being just a few steps from the library so she and Katie can walk there often to check out books. “Also, we’re close to the ski hill and the Nordic Center,” she adds. “We can watch the fireworks from our backyard, walk to the concerts, or ride our bikes to the River Run concerts rather than deal with all the traffic. Just being close to everything is the nicest thing for us about being in town.” >>>
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