Hilary Swank’s Telluride Residence: A Lesson In Lifestyle Design

Mark Zeff, Hamptons interior designer, was asked about developments that came to life during or because of the global pandemic — he did not disappoint. He shared his Telluride project which is the home of actress, Hilary Swank, and husband, Philip Schneider, a social venture entrepreneur. They live in the home with their many dogs and announced in October that they are expecting twins.

“The most important new trend that was accelerated by the pandemic was for people to leave the crowded urban cities and move into the country side. Either the suburbs or really into the wilderness,” he explained. “I worked with Hilary Swank on such a project of hers. She and her husband decided to leave Los Angeles and move full time to Telluride and we worked together on their new home in the mountains.”

He feels many of his clients had a need to reinvent the way they live into building new lifestyles and even building new homes that create a new way of looking at everything.  “Modern style and the introduction of the ‘passive home’ as well as being more thoughtful about where and how one lives,” he elaborated further.

These changes include unusual styles and colors that are a result of this need for his clients to reinvent themselves all over again. In particular, modern kitchen concepts and indoor-outdoor living are important style bookends. Biophilic design, which is the integration of nature into the interior environment, also gained popularity in the post-pandemic world. This movement emphasizes creating spaces that are both aesthetically stunning while promoting our well-being. As we bring nature inside, we create more calming environments that aid in building up our own mental health wellness. Globally, people continue to bring meditation and mindfulness into their lives as a necessary practice.

Homebound lives brought a harrowing demand for optimizing our outdoor living spaces and in many cases combining indoor and outdoor living on our properties. Within this need, the use of natural materials included local stones and wood. Zeff said, “The use of local stone from the land that Swank owned is an example of the use of materials combined together in order to create a warm and comfortable home whilst still being contemporary.”

He found that the interiors feel modern while the elements of traditional natural materials being used to build and decorate speak to a new modern aesthetic. “This new direction seems to work well as it can be used anywhere. In the Hamptons, this formula seems to work for my clients as well.”

Electric vehicles are everywhere to Zeff’s delight. He said they are in every garage now from coast-to-coast with various car brands finally joining this important movement. “This brave new-world toy has taken off with car brands embracing this idea with freshly designed cars that are so inspiring,” he said. “Bye bye Tesla!”

Ty Wenzel

Co-Publisher & Contributor

Ty Wenzel, a recent breast cancer survivor, started her career as a fashion coordinator for Bloomingdale’s followed by fashion editor for Cosmopolitan Magazine. She was also a writer for countless publications, including having published a memoir (St. Martin's Press) and written features for The New York Times. She is an award-winning writer and designer who covers lifestyle, real estate, architecture and interiors for James Lane Post. She previously worked as a writer and marketing director for The Independent. She has won multiple PCLI and NYPA awards for journalism, social media and design, including best website design and best magazine for James Lane Post, which she co-founded in 2020. Wenzel is also a co-founder of the meditation app for kids, DreamyKid, and the Hamptons social media agency, TWM Hamptons Social Media.