Miller Time

Photography by Rebekah Westover

OPENING SPREAD: Miller Time Ranch is an hour from the family’s primary residence—over sometimes treacherous mountain roads—so they use a helicopter to make the trip safer and faster.  

To say Lisa and Mike Miller have an entrepreneurial spirit is an understatement.  She was a busy social worker for the state of Utah, and he was a firefighter with a house painting side hustle when they decided to quit their jobs and make family a priority.  The couple started a successful land development and construction company, which they built from the ground up.  What they didn’t know how to do, they figured out.  

“We’d go to Home Depot and buy books about how to do tile and how to build a deck,” Lisa explains.  “We just taught ourselves.” 

The twin Restoration Hardware tables HAVE a finish that complements the white oak tongue and groove on the ceiling seat 12 people each.  The beaded chandeliers add a touch of elegance.

The company was a huge success and now focuses primarily on building communities and selling them to investors in Utah, Idaho, Texas, and Arizona.  Since they got married, Mike had always dreamed of owning a cattle ranch.  So, once again, the couple—who had no experience in ranching or farming—called on their can-do attitude to create their destiny.

“We have five boys and a daughter and growing up in suburban America it can be very difficult to teach your kids the value of hard work and really get that work ethic as part of their character,” Lisa says.  “That was important for us, and we thought if we have a ranch it would be a place we could go with our family to work really hard.” 

The built-in window seats, decorated with custom-made grain-sack pillows, look out over the front of the ranch in the formal sitting room.  

It took over a year for them to find the perfect spot—a ranch about an hour away from their primary residence in Provo.  The property has fresh springs, a pond, and a portion of the San Pitch River running through it—all important features for creating a working cattle ranch.  In conducting their due diligence, they realized the property also had a familiar history.  

“Everything started coming up in my great uncle’s name,” explains Lisa.  “My grandma’s youngest brother had lived on that property from 1968-2004 when he passed away.  It meant a lot to be able to bring the ranch back into the family.”

The 500-acre spread had multiple existing homes, so there were places for the new ranch manager and ranch hand to live, as well as a home for the family to stay at when they were doing improvements to the land, which needed lots of TLC.  They spent the first year repairing fences and equipment and hauling away tons of debris and manure.  

“It was a lot of work, and it was a great opportunity for us to have our kids be involved in that,” Lisa remembers.  “They knew every weekend we were going down to the ranch they’d be working hard.” But it wasn’t all work and no play.  “We have side-by-sides and ATVs, and there are places to go and hike and ride our bikes.  But we couldn’t do any of that until the work was done.”  

Antique grain sacks and ticking fabric adorn the chairs (Chalk & Fable) in the breakfast nook, which features a chandelier made from a trough found on the property.  Table by Restoration Hardware.

Ultimately, they tore down what was once Lisa’s great-uncle’s home and built a new Dutch Colonial Farmhouse in its place.  Lisa scoured through home plans and found an exterior elevation that she loved.  She completely reworked the interior floor plan to meet her family’s needs with the help of architect, Aaron Inouye.  The Miller’s company did all the general contracting, and Lisa was in charge of the interior design—something she learned along the way, of course.  

“We couldn’t afford a designer when we were first started our company, so I would be the one to pick out all the colors for the buildings and design the cabinet and lighting layouts,” she says.  “The more I did it, the more I realized this was something I really loved.  I’ve now started my own design company.  I love helping people make their spaces beautiful.” 

The Millers originally thought they would build a modern farmhouse, but they decided the location needed something that would stand the test of time and never go out of style.  They were inspired by the old pioneer settlements scattered throughout Sanpete County and borrowed design elements from these homesteads.  

Antique corbels from Antiquities Warehouse support the white oak mantel that matches the box beams in the ceiling.  The fireplace is finished with the same over-grout treatment used on the exterior, which reflects an old stone process prominent on pioneer homes that inspired the design.  

“I looked at how they did their stone, and in some ways, I designed the home to look as if there were different additions to the house over the years so you couldn’t tell what was original and what had been added on,” Lisa explains.   

The nearly 14,000-square foot home was created with family in mind since there are now over 50 people when the couple’s children, grandchildren, siblings, and parents get together.  There are lots of separate spaces where people can gather—including the formal living room, dining room (complete with two massive tables), sunroom, great room, and downstairs family room.  

“It really lends itself to people being able to gather and build relationships without feeling like you’re sitting in this gigantic place that isn’t very warm or welcoming,” Lisa notes.  

The French antique hutch in the kitchen, which replaced cabinetry that was planned for this area, is one of Lisa’s favorite pieces.  The durable blue Sunbrella fabric on the Grandin Road barstools makes for easy clean-up.  

The design choices contribute to the coziness of the interior where antiques abound, textures are thoughtfully layered, and scale is carefully curated.  Antique doors are utilized in several places to add character, including the primary bedroom, library, pantry, main floor laundry room, and office.  The blue and cream color scheme weaves a clean, comfortable, and tranquil aesthetic throughout the spaces.  Blue is used as a bold accent in various places throughout the home, such as the mudroom, where the cabinets are a rich navy hue.  

A 10-foot-tall antique hutch from France is a focal point in the kitchen, which also features metal antique pendants over the island.  A unique chandelier in the kitchen nook was fashioned from a trough that was salvaged from the property.  Custom chairs and ottomans are upholstered with old grain and tobacco sacks and accented with antique ticking fabric.  Two large chairs in the great room are similar in scale but don’t match, other than being covered in the same material.  

The bedroom above the formal sitting room is a great place to relax and take in the views of Miller Time Ranch.

“I tried to put a little different spin on things than what you’d see when you go into a new home,” Lisa describes.  “A lot of times everything is new and shiny, but you can tell the house was just barely finished, and that’s not what I was going for.”

In keeping with the nod to history, the tile patterns for the bathrooms and laundry room are ones that would have been utilized in the early 1900s.  Similarly, the transom windows, which had to be custom made to fit over the massive doors, were based on glass patterns that were popular in the early twentieth century.  Old fireplace mantels, antique corbels, as well as old grain sifters and antique food scales and pottery, add patina to an interior that makes the home feel comfortable and inviting—especially for those just coming in from a hard day’s work on Miller Time Ranch.  

In one of six guest bedrooms, a sweet quote stands out against the navy paint above the wainscoting—just one of many places the color is used throughout the home.  

ARCHITECT
Aaron Inouye

BUILDER
Vollkommen Construction

INTERIOR DESIGNER
Lisa Marie Design Company