In Deer Valley, luxury homes are expected to do more than make a striking first impression. They must withstand heavy snowfall, intense summer sun, and dramatic seasonal shifts while maintaining the timeless character that defines high-end mountain architecture.
At Sterlingwood Condominiums, a recently completed exterior renovation proves that preserving that character doesn’t always mean relying on traditional materials.
Originally built in the 1980s as a ski-in, ski-out community in upper Deer Valley, Sterlingwood has been carefully maintained for decades. But after more than 40 years, even the community’s cedar siding had reached the end of its lifespan.
What began as conversations around updated paint colors quickly evolved into a comprehensive exterior renovation that went far beyond a cosmetic refresh. Completed last year by Fine Construction, the year-long project addressed nearly every aspect of the building exterior, including new roofing, upgraded insulation, rebuilt decks, improved waterproofing, and new exterior cladding.
One of the renovation’s most distinctive features was ACRE, an exterior siding product developed by Mississippi-based manufacturer Modern Mill using upcycled rice hulls.
At first glance, rice hulls may seem like an unlikely material for a luxury mountain community. For Fine Construction, however, ACRE offered a way to preserve the warmth of traditional wood while addressing the maintenance demands that come with Park City’s four-season climate.
“Ultimately, the update around the exterior was one of the best I’ve seen on that whole street,” says David Fine, Operations Manager at Fine Construction. “We’ve already had several other communities reach out wanting to use the same products because of how good it looks.”
Designed for Utah’s Four Seasons
Building in Park City means designing for one of the country’s most demanding climates.
Heavy snow, freeze-thaw cycles, dry summers, and intense ultraviolet exposure all place extraordinary demands on a home’s exterior. While beautiful, mountain environments can quickly expose weaknesses in roofing systems, siding, and other building materials.
Those conditions don’t just affect how homes look. They influence how they perform over time, making material selection just as important as architectural design.
“The biggest issue that we see in Park City homes is ice damming,” Fine explains. “If heat escapes through the roof, it creates a freeze-thaw effect that can allow water to work its way underneath roofing materials and eventually cause leaks.”
To address that challenge, Fine Construction added insulation above Sterlingwood’s roof deck to reduce heat loss and improve the building’s overall energy performance.
The renovation also created an opportunity to rethink another exterior material synonymous with mountain homes: cedar siding.
A Different Approach to Wood
Wood has long been a defining feature of mountain architecture, valued for its natural character and authenticity.
“Mountain communities have gravitated toward wood because it feels at home in the surrounding landscape,” says Tim Schultz, West Sales Manager for Modern Mill. Architects often avoid materials that feel overly inorganic because they can stand out against the natural setting he adds.
That made ACRE a natural fit for a project like Sterlingwood, where homeowners wanted the appearance of wood without many of the maintenance demands that come with traditional lumber.
Manufactured from upcycled rice hulls, an abundant agricultural byproduct generated during rice production, ACRE combines the workability of wood with the durability and low-maintenance performance of a composite. Rice hulls naturally protect the grain from moisture, pests, and changing weather, characteristics that helped inspire the product’s development. Repurposing the hulls also gives new life to an agricultural byproduct that has historically gone to waste.
For Fine Construction, ACRE also needed to make sense for homeowners over the long term.
“Cedar requires refinishing every five to seven years,” Fine continues. “Over time, those costs really add up.”
“It still looks like wood, but because it’s such a controlled and manufactured product, it has a very clean, sleek appearance,” he adds. “It has consistent tones and really fits the mountain-modern aesthetic that many homeowners are looking for.”
Schultz says homeowners still want the beauty of wood but increasingly expect materials that maintain their appearance with less ongoing upkeep.
“You’re not sealing ACRE to keep moisture out like you are with wood,” Schultz explains. “It really should be as low maintenance as a product can be while still delivering the warmth and beauty people want in mountain homes.”
Evolving Luxury Expectations
As Park City’s luxury housing market continues to evolve, so do homeowners’ expectations.
Fine has watched that shift firsthand.
“We’ve seen the luxury market change,” he says. People are more interested in having something unique and something a little different than everyone else.”
At Sterlingwood, that shift meant looking beyond a simple like-for-like replacement. The renovation prioritized materials and building improvements that respected the community’s original design while improving long-term performance.
Fine says the team evaluated several exterior materials before settling on ACRE, including premium aluminum products that offered durability but came at a significantly higher cost. The goal wasn’t simply to replace cedar. It was to find a material that balanced appearance, long-term performance, maintenance, and budget.
“It checked all the boxes,” Fine states. “It had the modern look, it reduced maintenance, and it still made sense financially.”
The renovation also introduced a contemporary two-tone exterior palette and continuous siding lines that extend seamlessly across the garage doors, creating a cleaner, more cohesive appearance. Together with upgraded roofing, insulation, waterproofing, and rebuilt decks, the project modernized the community while preserving its character.
Sterlingwood is also representative of a challenge facing many of Deer Valley’s established residential communities. As buildings constructed in the 1980s and 1990s continue to age, homeowners associations are increasingly weighing how to modernize exterior systems while preserving the architectural style that attracted homeowners in the first place.
More than 40 years after it was first built, Sterlingwood still looks and feels like the mountain community homeowners have known for decades. The difference isn’t a dramatic architectural transformation, but a thoughtful investment in the materials and systems behind it.
By pairing updated building systems with materials designed for Park City’s demanding climate, the renovation positions one of upper Deer Valley’s long-standing residential communities for many more years of mountain living.
