The Kell House is a contemporary craftsmen style house located in the Harris Ranch community, a newer area of development in East End Boise. It was built in 2001 by Janet Kell. She said to have built the custom home to imitate the “Sun Valley feel” with a rustic interior. The stunning house sits at the bottom of the foothills and reflects much of the architecture in the neighborhood. The Kell House has many characteristics of a craftsman style home. The front of the house has a stone facade with stone pillars at the entryway. There is a cross-hipped, cross-gabled roof, but the gables have broken pediments, a major feature of the craftsman style. The main gable though is over the front center set of windows, not over the main door. Its moderately-pitched roof has several levels, giving the house a horizontal look. The remainder exterior of the house is made of stucco and has little other ornamentation. The interior of the house has many interesting architectural features. There are two fireplaces in the house, one in the main living room and another that opens to two different rooms. The fireplace in the living room is made of stone and goes up the entire height of the room, over twenty feet tall. The other chimney opens to both the office and the sitting room; on either side of that chimney, a different type of tile is used. Most of the windows are fixed and put together in a row. The window facing the backyard gives a beautiful view of the foothills. This house uses an unpainted cavetto molding that matches the wooden flooring used on almost all of the first floor. In the kitchen, the wall made of tile instead of being painted white. The railing on the stairs is made of wrought iron; its intricate design is common in many of the homes Janet Kell has designed.
Idaho Architecture Project
