Outdoor Gatherings Have Never Been Better
by Cassidy Mantor
Outdoor gatherings have never been more popular than in recent years. It’s no surprise that outdoor living spaces are a huge component of homeownership in and around Park City. Combined with the natural desire to want to have fun and enjoy the environment, creating an outdoor destination is the perfect way to take advantage of expansive views and wide-open spaces in the Wasatch.
A good outdoor living area in Park City can be used all year long. It should be warm, dry, well-lit, private, and spacious enough to have fun with guests. We’ve scoured the area and are excited to bring you these local businesses that will help you build your dream outdoor living space:
-Countertops, rooftop bars, & custom concrete from Concrete Shop West
-Artisanal Custom Lighting from Hammerton Lighting
-Patios, landscaping, and stonework from Blackdog Stone & Landscape
Custom Design Built to Last
Concrete Shop West
“A beautiful end product is the goal, but if the process is unpleasant, every time you look at it, you’ll be reminded of what you had to go through to get it, and that makes it less enjoyable.”
–Brian Southers, Owner & Founder, Concrete Shop West
Working with Concrete Shop West is a team effort. The shop designs concrete pieces for inside and outside the home, including vanities and countertops for kitchen and bath, dining and console tables, fireplace surrounds, hearths, modern wall cladding, and firepits. “Everyone has a different skillset and together, our talents lend themselves to being able to bring our clients what they want and deliver it on time,” Brian Southers, the company’s owner and founder, says.
Often clients bring Concrete Shop West images of designs they find online. Shop manager Ruben Contreras implements cutting-edge design that aligns with each client’s vision. Ruben has the artistic ability to envision how to translate the inspiration from those photos into pieces that suit the space and the technical ability to make it happen. Next, Savid Acuna – a creative thinker with an inclination for detail – uses his background in architectural rendering and carpentry to give shape to those pieces.
The depth of patina sought by Concrete Shop West’s discerning clients can only be achieved by a hand finish. When the concrete is finished, Nate Mitchell’s unique capacity for both beauty and detail ensures that the pieces are ready to be enjoyed. Eli Curtis handles in-shop welding needs and brings the finishing artistic touches to the job.
Whether the client is a homeowner or an international luxury property developer, Brain Southers creates an enjoyable and problem-free experience. “There’s a lot of detail that we have to manage to make sure a job goes right,” Southers says. “It requires knowledge and diverse talents and this group brings that to each job. Because of our team, we’re able to challenge ourselves with new applications of concrete and produce work that’s never been done before.”
To help clients envision their designs, the company uses computer-aided design (CAD). That technology helps them make adjustments and show proportions, such as lowering or raising the height of a hearth to demonstrate where a TV might sit on the wall above it.
Being on time is a priority of Concrete Shop West. When team members plan their portion of the project, they think about the other trades that are involved to make sure the work flows well. After years in the industry, Southers says that he’s seen too many dream homes turn into nightmares.
Being on time is a priority of Concrete Shop West. When team members plan their portion of the project, they think about the other trades that are involved to make sure the work flows well. After years in the industry, Southers says that he’s seen too many dream homes turn into nightmares. “A beautiful end product is the goal, but if the process is unpleasant, every time you look at it, you’ll be reminded of what you had to go through to get it, and that makes it less enjoyable,” he adds. “We want to keep the magic, and that involves prioritizing the process and the client.”
A recent example of how the team tackles a project is the creation of a full-service bar at Pendry Park City’s rooftop lounge. The challenge was to make a product that not only would add beauty to the lounge but also would withstand the harsh winter conditions in Park City. The job was extremely technical. It involved making a 150-square-foot bar top with rounded edges that rested on minimal cabinetry. To get the project just right, the team combined both cutting-edge technology and Old World craftsmanship.
“We created the unique shape of the bar using a three axis CNC router,” Southers says. “We applied a translucent black glaze satin finish by hand.” The finished product exceeded Pendry’s exacting standards for a beautiful and functional piece.
Outdoor living is a focal point of Park City life, and custom firepits are one of Concrete Shop West’s specialties. The shop fully customizes colors, shapes, and sizes.
“There is nothing better than gathering around a firepit to enjoy the company of family and friends in the beauty of the outdoors,” Southers says. “Each space is different and everyone has their own idea of how they’ll entertain. Based on our clients’ visions for their spaces, we’ll start drawing a rough draft version and going through iterations to refine their firepit so that it will be a good size that is large enough to warm everyone.”
“There is nothing better than gathering around a firepit to enjoy the company of family and friends in the beauty of the outdoors.”
–Brian Southers, Owner & Founder, Concrete Shop West
The beauty of Concrete Shop West’s work is that the medium of concrete and its character evolves over time. While some of their work is created for indoors, it thrives outside. Southers likens its evolution to his wedding ring and how its look has deepened over the years.
“When I got married, my ring seemed perfect,” Southers explains. “Now, after wearing it over the years, I look at it and it has a beautiful patina that I like better than when it was shiny and new. Our concrete is the same way. Instead of looking worn-out and tired, as it gets used it develops a depth and identity of its own.”
an Enlightened Approach
Hammerton Lighting
“Exterior fixtures need to check a lot of boxes, particularly in resort towns like Park City.”
–Levi Wilson, Founder & VP of Design, Hammerton Lighting
Whether building a new residence or remodeling an existing one, finding the ideal exterior light fixtures can be a major challenge. Thanks to Park City’s distinctive architecture, rugged climate, and outdoor lighting codes, homeowners purchasing outdoor lighting need to keep several considerations in mind.
Hammerton Lighting, a Salt Lake City-based decorative lighting manufacturer, has been illuminating the exteriors of Park City homes for over a quarter-century. Founded by two teenagers in a garage in 1995, the company now employs over 150 at their 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Each week, teams of designers, engineers, fabricators, and artisans collectively produce hundreds of light fixtures combining metalwork with more than five tons of blown, cast, and kiln-fused glass.
Hammerton is widely recognized as an industry innovator in outdoor lighting, which represents a third of the company’s production. “Exterior fixtures need to check a lot of boxes, particularly in resort towns like Park City,” explains Hammerton founder and VP of Design Levi Wilson. “Size and scale, weather resistance, dark sky compliance, energy efficiency, and low maintenance are all major considerations.”
“And because exterior fixtures are usually purchased in multiples, they’re a big investment,” Wilson adds. “So the cost of getting your outdoor lighting wrong – whether by cutting corners on sizing, construction and finish quality, or light output – can be huge.”
Bold Size & Scale
Like the surrounding Wasatch Mountains, Park City architecture is grand in scale. The majority of houses and condominium developments incorporate oversized facades, windows, front doors, and covered entries that require generously scaled fixtures to match. But architectural scale presents a problem for outdoor lighting.
“Take exterior wall sconces, for example,” continues Wilson. “A height of 24 inches is probably the minimum size suitable for most Park City homes. But less than 10% of off-the-shelf outdoor light fixtures are available in that size or larger. Most decorative lighting is manufactured offshore, so it’s deliberately smaller in scale to minimize material and freight costs.”
Because Hammerton sells primarily to luxury homeowners, their products are sized to accommodate larger homes. “Our outdoor fixtures are well-suited to the architectural scale typical of resort markets like Park City,” says Wilson. “We also design and build an enormous selection of custom outdoor lights.”
“The dirty little secret about most decorative outdoor lighting is that it rarely looks as good as the day it’s installed. Climate factors frequently cause fixtures to fail, even in just a year or two. Park City’s high altitude and variable mountain climate are tough on exterior fixtures”
–Paul Verbecky, General Manager for Hammerton Lighting’s Custom Business
Weather Resistance
Park City’s rugged climate is another key consideration for outdoor lighting. Like any metal-based architectural products, exterior light fixtures are highly susceptible to fading from heavy UV exposure as well as to corrosion from factors like temperature variability. At an average elevation of 7,000 feet, the sun’s UV rays are up to 70% stronger in Park City than at sea level, and annual temperatures range from -20 to 90+ degrees Fahrenheit.
“The dirty little secret about most decorative outdoor lighting is that it rarely looks as good as the day it’s installed,” says Paul Verbecky, a 15-year Hammerton veteran and general manager of the company’s custom business. “Climate factors frequently cause fixtures to fail, even in just a year or two. Park City’s high altitude and variable mountain climate are tough on exterior fixtures.”
Verbecky played a key role in Hammerton’s AAMA-2604 certification, which is the outdoor architectural industry’s finish performance standard for UV and corrosion resistance. It requires fixtures to be fabricated in aluminum, pre-treated with a marine-grade coating, and finished with specially formulated ‘super durable’ AAMA 2604 powder-coat paints.
“No comparable standard exists in the lighting industry,” explains Verbecky. “So we adopted the same ASTM standard that’s used to ensure the long-lasting finish durability of aluminum windows, railings, and even aluminum-clad skyscrapers. And to my knowledge, Hammerton is the only decorative outdoor lighting manufacturer that is AAMA-certified.”
“AAMA also enables us to offer a lifetime warranty on most of our outdoor products,” Verbecky adds.
Dark Sky Compliance
The term ‘dark sky’ refers to the absence of artificial light in the night sky, and there’s no question that the dark skies above Park City are viewed as an added benefit of living in a small mountain town. In fact, Utah has more dark sky communities and national parks than any other state in the U.S. Most new residents have moved here from larger cities where light pollution completely obscures the night stars.
Park City – including Promontory and Glenwild – has recently adopted dark sky regulations intended to promote enjoyment of the night sky. Under this new lighting code, all new construction must include low-lumen outdoor light fixtures with fully shielded and downward-directed light sources that do not exceed 3,000k in color temperature.
“The dirty little secret about most decorative outdoor lighting is that it rarely looks as good as the day it’s installed. Climate factors frequently cause fixtures to fail, even in just a year or two. Park City’s high altitude and variable mountain climate are tough on exterior fixtures”
–Paul Verbecky, General Manager for Hammerton Lighting’s Custom Business
These new dark sky requirements pose challenges for Park City homeowners. “Finding architectural-quality dark sky-compliant fixtures is difficult,” explains Wilson. “Most are entirely function-focused and too small in scale for Park City homes.”
Under their Hammerton Studio brand, the company sells outdoor lighting certified as dark sky-compliant by the International Dark Sky Association, which is the industry’s authoritative voice on night sky pollution.
“Dark sky-compliant lights are required by an increasing number of municipalities and planned communities across the U.S.,” Wilson adds. “So we’ve worked hard to fill the growing demand for dark sky-compliant lighting that suits today’s luxury homes.”
Energy Efficiency & Low Maintenance
Finally, with any outdoor lighting the issues of energy consumption and maintenance can’t be ignored. For large homes with multiple outdoor light fixtures, the energy bill is often significant, and service issues like bulb replacement are an expensive and time-consuming hassle.
Verbecky explains that lamping can solve both these problems. “Particularly for outdoor lighting, LED is the ideal lamping choice. LED consumes 10-20% of the energy of incandescent bulbs and lasts up to 25 times longer. Fortunately LED retrofit bulbs are now widely sold, so trading out incandescent bulbs is a no-brainer,” he says.
“Higher-end outdoor fixtures often include integrated LED, which eliminates the bulb entirely,” Verbecky continues. “Most Hammerton fixtures are offered with AC LED lamping to achieve a sleeker, more contemporary look that’s typically dark sky-compliant as well.”
Setting the Stage
Blackdog Stone & Landscape
“Let me tell you this. The older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.”
– Matthew McConaughey as David Wooderson in Dazed and Confused
Like McConaughey’s character in Dazed and Confused, John Minahan is a guy who enjoys the experience of life. In his professional capacity as the co-owner of Blackdog Stone & Landscape in Park City, Utah, Minahan focuses on building incredible backyards and creating beautiful environments for people to enjoy with their families and friends. Founded in 2015, Blackdog Stone & Landscape is the landscape and outdoor living division of Blackdog Builders, Inc. They design and craft flagstone patios, retaining walls, stone firepits, xeriscape landscapes, cantilevered decks, and outdoor living spaces that enhance views and people’s enjoyment of their Park City homes. Firepits and outdoor kitchens are some of Blackdog clients’ top requests.
If making memories is what livin’ is about, Blackdog quite literally sets the stage for its clients to create those experiences. Minahan recounts a backyard that his team completed last year for a couple in their late-50s with their kids in college. Their property overlooked the open space of the Wasatch Back and they wanted to upgrade their backyard to match the grandeur of their views. Blackdog designed and installed a flagstone patio and outdoor grill. They added a water feature and plants to soften the landscape. The clients had a family reunion and loved their enhanced backyard.
“When clients come to us, we often feel that we have a blank slate,” Minahan says. “Tiffany, our designer, creates renderings that work for the environment, for the clients, and for our team. It’s incredibly rewarding to turn these spaces into the vision that clients have and hear them utilizing their spaces in meaningful ways.”
Another family wanted an outdoor firepit to enjoy with their children who range in age from 9 to 14. The project was completed in early January with plenty of snow on the ground. As soon as the firepit was done, the clients let Blackdog know that they dug out around it and fired it up. “They sat around it roasting marshmallows with the kids and just loved it,” Minahan shares. “Our outdoor living environments are beautiful, comfortable, and cozy. They set the tone for having fun and creating memories.”
Plants and the scale of the designs are two of the ways the company creates comfort in its landscapes. “We may carve out different spaces within a larger patio, such as an outdoor kitchen, a firepit, and a lounge with a dining table,” Minahan explains. “Our goal is to make sure each destination doesn’t feel overwhelming and instead is being used to an appropriate size and scale.”
The company’s goal is to carry the style of the home’s architecture and interior design through to its outdoor living spaces. Materials and other features that are selected will depend on the home’s style. “Many of our clients remodeled their houses a few years ago, and now they’re focusing on the exterior parts,” Minahan explains. “They may have a beautiful new kitchen with quartz countertops so we’ll use that same quartz for an exterior grilling island. We’ll tie woods and modern metals together, for instance, by designing powder-coated steel planter beds that match the interior finishes. As soon as we walk up to a house, we can identify its style.”
In a modern home, Blackdog created a concrete patio with an inviting sunken firepit that was powder-coated in gunmetal. They designed a three-foot-high decorative architectural wall with a floating bench composed of Trex wood. In its quest for sleekness, modern design can sometimes feel harsh; however, Blackdog created a comfortable gathering space by adding the organic detail of black Mexican river rock running through the joints on the patio floor. The result is an original design that is intellectually and physically enjoyable.
Another example of Blackdog’s range is a floating cantilevered deck that juts out into the woods. “There was some fun engineering behind that,” says Minahan, citing enormous footings that his team installed to support it. It also features a Trex composite deck, creating the feeling of soaring through the air above the trees. It’s restorative and energizing at once.
Pergolas, lighting, and plants also help create cozy spaces. “We’re pretty limited with the plants and trees we can use at our high altitude, as well as what we can plant for fire mitigation,” Minahan shares. “Not to mention the additional challenges plants face from deer, elk, moose, and rabbits.” He mentions lavender as a great resource that enhances the aesthetic of an outdoor space through color, texture, and fragrance. Another frequent request is for xeriscape lawns that use less water.
“Our clients are very conscious of water usage on their properties and we also prioritize sustainability in our landscaping,” Minahan says. “We install high-tech irrigation systems that can be connected with the Weather Channel. If there’s a 50% chance of rain, they might not turn on in an effort to conserve water. We also like to use water-wise plants and drip irrigation in planter beds, compared to spray systems. We minimize grass and create more planter beds with mulch and gravel. Many of our clients feel that they’re wasting water and want to reduce their footprint. Our challenge is to design something beautiful that blends in with the other features of their lawns in a more environmentally-conscious way.”
“Our clients are very conscious of water usage on their properties and we also prioritize sustainability in our landscaping.”
-John Minahan, Co-Owner, Blackdog Stone & Landscape
Another complex project currently underway is for a tunnel and patio combination for a ski-in/ski-out property that also needed access for a groomer snowmobile. The client requested a tunnel directly from his basement that leads into a patio, and he also wanted another patio on the next level above. “The project is focusing on functionalism, so we have a tight boulder retaining wall with a wood bridge, but there’s also incredible stonework,” Minahan says. He adds, “Our team and our installation crews are incredibly skilled, and are artists in their own right. We can build fantastic landscapes because of the talented team we have. It’s hard work and they are magicians.”
In-house landscape designer, Tiffany Keyser, works closely with clients to estimate and define the scope of the projects. Tiffany creates 3D renderings, 2D site plans, and handles permitting. The team includes design assistants, operations and project managers, superintendents, foremen, and laborers. As a division of parent company Blackdog Builders, Inc., the stone and landscaping team can utilize those general contracting resources for outdoor elements like decks or pergolas. “We leverage their skillsets and crews to build wood structures for us, and we often do their excavation, rough grading, footings, and landscaping,” Minahan says.
“The project is focusing on functionalism, so we have a tight boulder retaining wall with a wood bridge, but there’s also incredible stonework. Our team and our installation crews are incredibly skilled, and are artists in their own right. We can build fantastic landscapes because of the talented team we have. It’s hard work and they are magicians.”
-John Minahan, Co-Owner, Blackdog Stone & Landscape
Blackdog Stone & Landscape uses mediums and materials that fit each client’s aesthetic, be it mountain rustic, modern, or a transitional style somewhere in the middle. They create a seamless transition from the client’s home to the exterior, pulling together different elements to create one cohesive outdoor experience. “We’re in the mountains, and generally our clients want to invest in their outdoor spaces so they can really enjoy their views and spend time with their friends and family in their special places. We learn about our clients’ dreams and hopes and how they want to live,” says Minahan. “Our designs wind up being elaborate and interesting creations that our clients love and that set the tone for good times.”
