On the road through Eastern Idaho.
Last week we packed the car and hit the road to Idaho to film three of our homes for our show SKETCH premiering this fall on The Design Network. 1300 miles across three states including deserts, mountains and farmland - all beautiful country! We have made this ride many times and yes it takes two days and I'm sure you are thinking why would you not fly? I LOVE road trips and the time to just be quiet, uninterrupted and think! Isabel is the same. So we hit the road and virtually meditate.
Now this year we did stretch the two day trip to four days as we had a wedding to attend in Sedona right on Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing.....this time it wasn't ours! What a beautiful setting and then one of our vendors from Scottsdale offered us his home along Oak Creek to stay a couple nights. What a treat and what a beautiful place complete with orchards, pool, and an amazing view of the red rocks of Sedona.
It was difficult to leave and continue on the road trip but we had a rendezvous date with our film crew so we loaded the car and headed north! Now usually we head north from Flagstaff, through Page, and through southern Utah to an overnighter in Salt Lake - which we did. Then the next day we venture north on I-15 to Butte, MT and head west on I-90 to Coeur d'Alene, ID. This year though we thought let's see some new country and so we chose a route through Sun Valley,. ID! Wow- beautiful!!!! Love coming into town and passing the small airport full of private jets.
Our google route then showed a path north of Sun Valley up central Idaho to Salmon and then Missoula. Looked good on the map however little did we know that the road would gradually narrow, then turn to a dirt road, and then turn to a one lane jeep road with turnouts for on-coming traffic! But we continued on as we were to far into the route to turn around. Turned out to be absolutely stunning! So remote and so beautiful. We traveled the Sawtooth Range and dropped down into the Salmon River basin which flowed for miles without a single fisherman for miles. Talk about tempting! I love to fish and this is definitely a place I am going to have to come back to. Of course no cell signal for miles....so definitely a slice of heaven.
We continued northward and had lunch in Hamilton, MT and then made our way to Missoula, MT where we reconnected with our normal route on I-90. A couple hours more and we were back to my favorite slice of heaven, Coeur d' Alene, ID! I love this place and have been coming here every year since 1999 when I started my first Candelaria Design project. Some 16 years later we just finished our fourth project here! We checked into a home we rented on the Spokane River where we met up with our film crew from Wedgie Creative - Kenny Moskowitz and Phil Click. We unloaded the troops, luggage and gear and headed into town to one of our favorite spots, Moon Time for dinner. Lamb burgers, curried cashews and crafted beers! Great start to our trip.
Day 1 of filming would be filming our second home we designed - a beautiful Mountain Villa in Black Rock for two lovely people who hired us in the midst of the 2008 economic debacle! What a memorable moment that was to get their call for a new project and of all places - in Coeur d' Alene. Not only did this turn out to be a great project but again, we made two wonderful friends along the way! Just to give you and idea - they named one of the duties in the home the Candelaria Suite! So fun to film this home and spend time with our two friends.
From there we headed to the Wednesday Coeur d' Alene Farmer's Market which is one of my favorite parts of coming here. Fresh produce and flowers from local farmers. hand crafted pizzas, and of course my favorite, the bread vendor! I love this experience and seeing the same vendors for the last 16 years! It's lime a time capsule!
Then it was off to Angelo's for dinner with all three clients from Coeur d' Alene. How nice to share dinner with all three client couples and spend some time with chef and good friend Angelo Brunson and his crew. This is my little slice of Italy when I'm in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho! Angelo uses fresh produce from his garden, fresh meats from the local ranchers and now makes his own wine - which was fantastic. Always a treat and one of my must stops when I come to town.
The next day we filmed my first Candelaria Design project - not just here in Coeur d'Alene but anywhere! The Murphy Lodge is an amazing log home set virtually on a cliff on the west shore of Lake Coeur d' Alene. 17 semi trailers of logs make up this home with spectral views of the lake. Of course we had to film this home in style from a beautiful Stancraft boat approaching the home from the lake - all captured by a drone from 3DR out of Austin, TX. The footage this drone can capture is fabulous and I can't wait to share it with you with these episodes.
After filming at the Murphy Lodge we made our way to the Stancraft Boat Shop where owner Robb Bloem is busy crafting some works of art on the water. He gave us a tour of the facility and some of the boats they have under construction or receiving maintenance including John Elway's boat. We also came across a boat he mentioned would be used in someone's ceiling as an accent piece. Turns out that boat is going in our client's game room ceiling!
Our final day of filming culminated at beautiful home on Hayden Lake which is just north of Coeur d' Alene. This home was completed in 2012 and is truly magnificent. The 10,000 sf two-story home is rustic and in mountain style but yet is very sophisticated and elegant. The client is a world renowned orthodontist and holds numerous patents for state of the art products he has developed. He and his wife are wonderful people who inspire me not only professionally but personally.
We finished our Coeur d' Alene adventure with a trip to the Kootenai County Farmer's Market on Saturday morning! Can you tell I love farmer's markets!!!! Nothing like a lamb burger with a fried egg on it at 9am in the morning!!!
Great trip and so nice to catch up with my friends from Idaho. I am so excited to share these three homes in a three part series on our TV series SKETCH this Fall on The Design Network! Stay tuned!!!