John Shoemaker drops the needle on a record, and notes from Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue echo off the rough-sawn Douglas fir walls of his fishing lodge in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.

In Darby, Montana, just steps from the Bitterroot River, John Shoemaker and Greg Case built a home base for their fly-fishing group vacations." layout="" credit="Photo by Rebecca Stumpf" photoUserId="6766146761470894080"/>

It’s a rare moment of quietude for John, the managing partner of a private equity firm in Pennsylvania. For the next week, a cast of friends from the East Coast will stay at the lodge and fly-fish in the nearby Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers.

Built in 2020, the 3,280-square-foot cabin replaces one he and his longtime fishing buddy from Philadelphia, Greg Case, bought more than a decade ago to host such get-togethers. In 2019, they decided to knock down the old building, which harbored mice and bats, for something modern yet rugged, evoking the hard-wearing lodges of the past.

“We wanted a place where you could walk in wearing your fishing waders and smoking a cigar, and could grab a beer from the refrigerator without worrying about anything,” John says.

For the design, John and Greg turned to John’s childhood friend Charlie Lazor, founder of the Minneapolis firm Lazor/Office, and asked for something that would blend in with the rural surroundings.

Starting with the silhouette of a classic Montana barn, Lazor pulled, prodded, and cut away spaces until he was left with a two-part wood, glass, and steel building united by a sprawling system of decks and walkways along with a single, aggressively cantilevered roof.

Lazor’s design is an experiment with geometry and ambiguity. “It presents as one thing, and it becomes something very different,” he says. From a distance, the lodge resembles a decaying farm building clad with a patchwork of loose-fitting planks. Inside, planes of wood and glass wrap spaces that feel contemporary but perfectly at home in the woodsy setting.

With minimal personal space, the cabin is meant for connecting with nature and friends. The larger volume holds ground-floor living, kitchen, and dining areas where guests gather before and after fishing.

“You lie in bed at night and see the sky—it’s like you’re camping. You don’t really want to go to sleep—you just want to look at the stars.”
—Greg Case, resident

Live-edge wood-plank screens covering the all-glass southern and western walls provide shade in the summer and come off in colder months to let in the sun’s warmth. Wooden stairs lead to a loft where visitors can play shuffleboard on a 16-foot table while taking in views of the Bitterroot River and the Jewel Mountains.

The other volume contains the bedrooms. John’s and Greg’s private second-floor rooms feature huge skylights for stargazing. On the ground level, two lodge-style rooms with single beds are purposely spartan to steer people to the communal areas. Benches suffice for seating, and guests stow gear in lockers.

Many visitors don’t know one another before they arrive, but the bare-bones design helps foster new relationships. “It was built as a place to commune and introduce old friends to new friends,” John says as the sounds of Miles’s trumpet echo through the living area. “You can’t do that if someone is alone reading a book.”

A long guardrail, made from trees felled to clear the property, doubles as extra seating." layout="" credit="Photo by Rebecca Stumpf" photoUserId="6766146761470894080"/>

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Lazor/Office

Construction: Massey Construction (406.360.2545)

Structural Engineering: DCI Engineers

Landscape Design: Vern’s Landscape and Nursery (406.360.0170)

Interior Design: John Shoemaker and Lazor/Office

Cabinetry: Massey Construction (406.360.2545)

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