Wade and Associates: The Test of Time

Rock has a way of making a grand statement, and at 
this home at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, stone 
rules.
Central to this home built by Wade and Associates 
are stones that are 12,000 pounds and over 20 feet 
high, including a hand-carved Frontier sandstone 
staircase. It was around this feature that the builders 
created this 7,300-square foot contemporary home at 
the exclusive Yellowstone Club.  

Given the mountainous landscape and steep slope of 
the lot, the main living areas of this home — 
including the great room, kitchen and master suite — 
are all on the second floor. Here, taking center stage 
rests a 20-foot-long moss rock fireplace cascading in 
a free-form shape. The fireplace adds interest and 
definition to the great room, which includes an 
entertainment center, hidden by retractable wrought 
iron doors mimicking the fireplace, and in its 
entirety, is topped by a Frontier sandstone mantel.  
The décor is a mixture of the home’s Montana roots 
and the owners’ West Coast heritage. Wade and 
Associates put many of their craftsmen to work 
building custom items for the home, including a 
bunkroom designed to offer truly western hospitality 
with its five reclaimed pine beds surrounded by 
distressed alder wainscoting, tipi light sconces and 
rawhide curtains.

They were little touches that added up to a grand 
statement; things that Wade and Associates is used to 
doing. "That’s the one thing about being a custom 
home builder and building a relationship with your 
client," says Larry Wade. "If they see something they 
want integrated into their home, we figure out how to 
make that happen. The architect has the freedom to 
do what he does best and then we do what we do 
best."
For one of their clients a storage closet evolved into a 
custom wine cellar, complete with Montana moss 
rock stone interior, a barbed-wire fused glass door 
inset into an old-world rounded entry. The 
completion of this same home turned into a new 
landscaping project featuring several types of the 
newest technology in outdoor pools accented with a 
heated stream.
Wade and Associates Builders have a history steeped 
in the finer aspects of the building industry. After 
many years as a carpenter, Larry Wade opened a full-
service cabinet shop in 1990. Just one year later, he 
and a partner teamed up to open the doors of their 
fine home construction business. The company 
evolved over the next 15 years and in 2003 became 
known as Wade and Associates Builders, a 
partnership between Larry and his son, Cooper.  
Today, the cabinet shop continues to produce the 
detailed custom cabinetry, doors, interior trim and 
even some of the furniture that adorns the luxury 
mountain homes in Big Sky, Montana. 
"The complexity and the detail of the projects have 
substantially increased," says Cooper Wade. 
"Building a home can be a lot of fun. We turn our 
clients’ hopes and dreams into reality." 

About Wade and Associates:
Wade and Associates Builders, Inc. is a custom home 
builder in Big Sky, Montana, that provides full 
construction services, from assisting in architect 
selection to turnkey completion.