What happens when a property’s designer is also its owner? For starters, that property is created as a home, not an investment to be flipped, not one of many projects developed to meet clients’ briefs. The result is instead a deeply personal manifestation of that designer’s tastes, wants, needs, emotions. A space to love and to live in.

Such is the case with Florida-based designer Lori Faison, who first visited Whitefish, Montana in the early ’90s while on a cross-country tour with her husband and some friends. The area’s “charm, natural beauty and endless recreational opportunities left an indelible impression,” she says. Returning in 2017, Faison was again nudged by a feeling she just couldn’t shake—that she and her husband should “plant roots in this gorgeous spot.”

That spot is the Whitefish neighborhood surrounding pine-lined Elk Highlands Drive. During the pandemic, Faison worked with Sonja Burgard of National Parks Realty to find the ideal lot to build 44 Elk Highlands Drive. “This is her baby,” says Burgard of the turnkey property, completed in 2023. “And [Faison’s vision] is so evident the moment you walk inside,” she adds, commenting that during showings, “jaws are dropping… and the words ‘serene’ and ‘calming’ are overheard a lot.”

Wrapped in cedar, corral board and Montana moss rock, this home’s exterior exudes warmth—a first impression that makes it seem established and settled into, not the turnkey new build it is. “My vision for this home was guided by both early homestead cabins of Montana’s past and the newer, more modern vernacular that’s becoming more prevalent in new builds,” Faison reflects. “I wanted to honor both styles and partnered with Jill Lawrence of Montana Creative to create a design that had an intentional crossover of modern and traditional mountain architectural elements, with the aim of seamlessly blurring the line between each style and creating a modern-day chalet.”

Inside, 4,200 square feet (390 sqm) of living space flow effortlessly throughout an intentionally neutral palette and a natural yet sophisticated aesthetic—as if this home just rose up ready-made from the mountains. Floor-to-ceiling glass enfolds you in forest, sky and mountain views so vivid that you need to remind yourself they’re not 3D photo murals but a pine-scented vignette of right here, right now.

“The design intention was to create a home with walls of windows for an abundance of natural light to stream in during the long Montana winters, and of course to capitalize on the beautiful view corridors,” says Faison. Warmth is maintained, she adds, by using wood like Douglas fir on the walls and reclaimed European white pine floors.

Tactile material natural materials tempt you to give in to the pleasure of running a hand along a waney-edged timber table, the easy glide of buttery leather, the coziness of tweedy upholstery. The great room’s custom-designed tunnel fireplace is shared with the dining room, adding comfort and atmosphere to both zones. A bi-fold door system opens wide from the indoor living spaces to a heated outdoor deck that seems to float amongst soaring pine trees. Downstairs, a games room is set up to shoot pool or hunker down with Texas Hold’em, and a bunk room for guests means hosting and entertaining is always relaxed and easy.

Whitefish, with 10,000 residents, has the charms of a small town with a not-to-be-underestimated sophistication as well. During the pandemic, celebrities took notice and visited or purchased homes, and in 2024 Chef Todd English, four-time James Beard Award winner and Aspen Food & Wine Classic pioneer, co-founded the Whitefish Food and Wine Festival, which celebrates the culinary scene in the Flathead Valley. Lovers of live music will want to catch the Under The Big Sky Festival at Big Mountain in July set on a 350-acre ranch over three days with Tyler Childers, Mumford & Sons and The Red Clay Strays headlining.

44 Elk Highlands Drive is listed at $7,500,000 and represented by Sonja Burgard of National Parks Realty, a member of Forbes Global Properties—the invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.

JOLIET — A new western transportation themed museum has opened in Downtown Joliet at 110 South Main Street.

Treasures Out West celebrated its grand opening on Friday. The museum features several western transportation displays including a replica of an original wagon wheel.

To honor Montana culture, the museum also has a gift shop featuring local crafters and artists with handmade items, along with Wilcoxson’s Ice Cream.

The museum is open all weekend, and the owners hope to eventually expand the business to be open everyday.

See the video for this story below:

YouTube star and wagon wheel enthusiast opens western transportation museum in Joliet

All of the transportation-themed items in the museum belong to Dave Engel’s personal collection.

Engel, a YouTube star, has been restoring and recreating antique wagons since the 1970s. Engel told MTN on Friday he loves history about the Wild West, and that he hopes to honor Montana with the museum.

“This is a part of the American West. It’s the roots of America, how all the settlers moved from eastern areas, St. Joe, Missouri, to this country, all happened with what I work with. All the pioneers came out here, the whole country was opened up on wagons. And that’s just part of who we are,” said Engel.

Since last summer, Engel has worked on opening the museum.

“This isn’t near big enough. I’m beginning to realize that fairly quickly. We could easily triple, or quadruple this room here,” he said.

The center of the museum is taken up by an original restored manure spreader from Engel’s personal collection. But, Engel says his favorite item in the entire museum is a large wagon wheel, which he created from scratch based off an original antique.

“This is a project that I got involved with the beginning of 2014, and it is a project that has never been done before. These wagons were built in the early 1880s, and no one has ever rebuilt these since,” he said.

Mack Carmack, MTN News

Just across the street from Engel’s museum is his workshop.

There, Engel restores and builds old wagons. It’s also where he films his YouTube videos.

Since 2015, Engel has been posting videos on his YouTube channel, Engel’s Coach Shop, where he demonstrates his craftsmanship.

Mack Carmack, MTN News

RELATED| Joliet man bringing history back to life with his horse-drawn wagon restorations

“People watch this project and then they can come and actually see it hands on, first hand, of what they watched on their television,” said Engel.

For almost as long as Engel has been working on wagons, his brother-in-law, Rich Bischoff, has been restoring carriage and early automobile lamps, which are also featured in the museum.

Mack Carmack, MTN News

“Just the fact that, well, some of this machinery that I’ve used, it’s really cool to see here that Dave got a special spot for, honoring me by doing that… It’s just real exciting” Bischoff said Friday.

Around 40 years ago, Engel and Bischoff worked together reproducing carriage lamps, before separating into their own interests.

“The only thing that isn’t represented here is hearse lamps. But everything from buggies, to small carriages, to large carriages… to early automobiles (is represented),” said Bischoff.

Because of their former working relationship, Engel devoted a portion of the museum to Bischoff’s lamp collection, which includes lamps from the 1850s to the 1920s.

“I never dreamed that this would be in a display like that for people to come and look at it,” he said.

Mack Carmack, MTN News

The museum is open on Saturday until 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

A grizzly was shot and killed after it charged two men who were picking mushrooms near Choteau, Montana, late Wednesday. 

Choteau is in the part of Montana where grizzlies have increasingly been reclaiming their natural prairie habitat. 

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), two landowners were picking mushrooms about a mile north of Choteau on Wednesday night when they were charged by an adult female grizzly bear.

The men shot and killed the bear at close range, according to FWP. The men were not injured. 

An FWP report identified the men as “John” and “Justin,” without giving their last names. Messages sent Friday from Cowboy State Daily to FWP officials were not returned.

More Grizzly Trouble In Montana

Grizzly trouble isn’t unfamiliar in Montana, including in areas that were, until recently, not occupied by bears.

In April, two anglers fended off a grizzly with gunfire at Red Rocks Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Montana.

It wasn’t known if any of the shots hit the bear, and the anglers were unharmed, according to FWP reports. 

In fall 2023, there were two run-ins between hunters and grizzlies in the Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area. It’s between the small towns of Choteau and Fairfield, Montana, about 40 miles west of Great Falls.

After one incident in which a bird hunter fired his shotgun at a grizzly, a Montana wildlife official told Cowboy State Daily that he found a shotgun wad with some grizzly hair in it, but no blood.

Wildlife agents later used drones and a helicopter to search for the bear “about 4miles in each direction,” but found nothing, said Chad White, a bear management specialist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. That means the bear probably wasn’t seriously hurt.

In another incident, a grizzly tried to claim the carcass of a whitetail buck that an archery hunter had just killed. 

The bear ran away when the hunter and an FWP agent drove up to the scene in the agent’s pickup. That gave them enough time to toss the deer carcass into the truck’s bed and leave.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.