A Rambling Fishing Retreat in Montana Cuts Through Cabin Conventions
The Silhouette House by Lazor/Office is a two-part wood, glass, and steel building united by a sprawling system of decks and walkways.
The Silhouette House by Lazor/Office is a two-part wood, glass, and steel building united by a sprawling system of decks and walkways.
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.
Photo: Rebecca Stumpf
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.
Designed by Minneapolis firm Lazor/Office, the structure is contemporary but evocative of the past. "We took the classic Montana barn and played around with it to find other geometries within that silhouette," says firm founder Charlie Lazor.
Photo: Rebecca Stumpf
Lockers are conveniently located along the deck to provide storage for fishing gear and items.
Photo: Rebecca Stumpf
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