A Little Bit of Country

When East Coast bachelor JJ Healy’s love of the West landed him in Daniel, Wyoming-a dot on the map in Sublette County, home to early fur trapping settlers-Lady Luck was on his side. Healy found a mix of old structures on 3,000 acres of windswept prairie, sited between the Wind River Mountains and the Wyoming Range.

He promptly named it Double J. Ranch. After meeting his future wife Julia, Healy proved to be as lucky in love as he was in real estate, and the Double J soon took on new meaning, JJ and Julia. With definitive thoughts on the nest they envisioned, the happy couple collaborated with architect John Carney and the interior design team of Rosanna Mitchell and Colleen Walls. The result is a dream home and compound able to stand up to the often formidable elements. Wyoming can be windblown and has snow on the ground much of the year, but Double J’s colorful interior balances the harshness of the weather and the more neutral landscape of grasses and sage.

Termed “European Rustic with a western edge” the style of the home includes antiques and a bit of JJ’s beloved Nantucket sensibility thrown in for good measure. (Check out the curved trusses in the great room that are reminiscent of the underside of a boat!) COWGIRL thinks the team has succeeded in creating a sanctuary both tactile and textural with fl air to spare. Today, the Healys and their two children call their working cattle ranch a true home on the range.

In the great room, buttercup-yellow walls, brightly patterned textiles on the custom made sofa and window coverings, and the variegated shades of the reclaimed fir floorboards add warmth to the great room, sunny enough to stave off any inclement weather. Sumptuous arm chairs whose leather is burnished to a rich patina, balance the strong palette. The golden foliage of the Robert Moore painting and the dry stack Wyoming Moss Rock hearth evoke a cozy ambience.

The kitchen cabinets are repurposed snow fence, wire brushed fir tempered with Australian Timber oil. Countertops are a green element-a recycled content called Firestone. The mounted stools are made to slide under the butcher block topping the custom island. Must haves on a Wyoming ranch are a mudroom to clean up in after being in the great outdoors and bedrooms and hearths that promise a luxurious respite from the exhilarating but whipping winds of the prairie. In keeping with the down-home style of luxury, the exterior of the impressive compound is roughsawn cedar with a handsome and durable corrugated metal, rusted/oxidized roof. 

One of a kind, hand-loomed rugs throughout the residence can be purchased exclusively at Willow Creek Home Furnishings and Interior Design, (307) 733-7868. Through the rug patterns change, the natural dyes used are the same, creating a gorgeous flow from room to room. Below are the bedding and draperies in the bunkroom that were exclusively custom made for Willow Creek.

Architect: John Carney
Carney Logan Burke Architects
clbarchitects.com

Interiors: Rosanne Mitchell & Colleen Walls
Willow Creek Home Furnishings & Interior Design