Gstaad, the Swiss ski resort favored by Europe’s beau monde, has a distinctively nostalgic Alpine style. Turn your gaze in any direction and you’ll see gingerbread-esque chalets backed by spruces and snowy peaks, like a perfect vintage postcard. So when Jake Arnold’s client, a British businesswoman based in California, had the rare opportunity to build a brand new home just outside of town, she hewed closely to tradition, hiring local architecture firm Chaletbau Matti to create a pitched-roof timber construction that looks as if it had been there for a century.
Inside, however, things aren’t so old-school. To begin with, there’s an elevator that connects the property’s four stories, with a garage on the ground level and common areas at the very top. There’s also a spa and gym, a spacious laundry room, and even air conditioning. “I think she’s the only person [in Gstaad] who has air conditioning,” says the AD100 designer.
Creating a design for a location so steeped in tradition didn’t come easily to Arnold, who left all of that behind when he moved from London to Los Angeles in 2012. Yet true to his nature, he decided to approach it with levity. “The idea of conformity is so difficult for me,” says Arnold. “I still wanted to bring in a certain level of tradition, to respect the culture and the architects, but in a way that felt livable, comfortable, with a bit of California attitude to it.”
He found the desired balance between originality and propriety by pairing antique pieces with custom furniture in flowing silhouettes, and tied it all together with a collection of richly textured fabrics. ”Texture is such a key component to my design sense,“ says Arnold, who can reel off the name, material, and maker of every fabric used in the 7,200-square-foot five-bedroom home. “I think it’s actually one of the things you notice when you’re in one of the spaces that I’ve designed—they’re very tactile.”
