If you ask us, it's been far too long since we brought you a best-of list, and we felt it was high time to sift through the archives in the interest of putting together another edition of Quint-Essentials. By now, you oughta know the drill: in each story of its kind, we compile a tidy little list of five of our favorite features from spaces we've had a hand in either buying, selling, designing, or just up-close admiring. In Quints past, we've presented you with a selection of stunning bath tubs, epic eateries, and some of the best back yards we've seen. But this time, we're getting a little more abstract—we’re coveting those in-between spaces that transport you places. This is our ode to those that lift us up where we belong. Yes, in this edition of Quint-Essentials, we're going to present you with a few heavenly stairways that bring new meaning to the phrase “watch your step”…
1) Hillsden House
We first featured this captivating space a while back as a Place of Worship, and it quickly climbed the charts as one of our most-viewed stories of all time--and for obvious reasons. The clean lines, the warm, Scandinavian vibes, and the pitch-perfect design of this space combine for a result that's, in a word, sublime. The architect? One of our COLLECTIVE faves, Warren Lloyd, who says this project served as a lesson in serious patience and intention. Case in point: upon completion, this stairway was ripped out and re-installed to ensure the grain lined up just-so. Our prognosis? Totally worth it. Full story here.
2) OC Tanner
For a space that deals in wares as sparkling and one-of-a-kind as those behind the cases of this local jeweling house, OC Tanner naturally holds their interior architecture to the same high standard. The retail space, on the corner of State St and South Temple, was originally built in 1905, and served as a planetarium for many years. OC Tanner's $24 million renovation (by architecture firm MJSA) kept this stellar staircase in tact (hallelujah!), and the stark spiral, combined with the building's historic exterior, has us all starry-eyed. Full story here.
3) Van Cott
This Holladay home is one of our favorites A) because it happens to house one of our all-time favorite fams, and B) because it's a pitch-perfect example of Ed Dreier architecture functioning flawlessly as a 21st century space. The walls of windows are showstopping, to be sure, but it's this curved, single-stringer staircase that brings us to our COLLECTIVE knees. Yes, the carpeted case is completely original, and no, we wouldn't have it any other way. Full story here.
4) Marmalade Modern
Chances are you've seen this spot on the pages of our site before. First, we featured it as a COLLECTIVE design project, then we deemed it a Place of Worship, and then, oh-so-fleetingly, it was available to buy or rent*. Really, we can't get enough of this clean, eclectic, and deliciously-curated space. And, since it's perched on a corner in one of our favorite 'hoods, the locale couldn't get much better, either. It's a city perch with design perks aplenty, including--but not limited to--that stunning set of stairs (hugged by a wall of class and lit by the skylight above). Full story here.
*If you missed out on this space the first go 'round, we've got news we think you're going to like...keep your eyes on the site this week for the best news ever.
5) US Courthouse
No list of noteworthy stairs in SLC would be complete without this pièce de résistance that sits in the lobby at the US Courthouse. Designed by New York-based Thomas Phifer and Partners, much of this space was built with locally-sourced materials. There's little about this building that isn't striking, but the showpiece is undeniably the suspended (and seismically-sound) spiral staircase. Politics are rarely pretty--luckily for us, this bit of Washington on 400 S is all but breathtaking. Full story here.
