With an open heart, a restricted funding and a focus on green technology, Melanie and Omar Abderrahman have generated a spiritual oasis in the Utah desert. The Abderrahmans were looking for land close enough to Las Vegas for family visits, yet far enough away to make a tranquil retreat. They knew that they turned onto the dirt drive the wind-swept, sage brush spotted land before them was the only one.
Sarah Greenman
A floor-to-ceiling bay window frames a large eat-in kitchen. The table is reclaimed wood along with the troubled hutch has closets confronted with chicken wire.
Sarah Greenman: your house is filled with classic and unique pieces. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Melanie Paulk Abderrahman: There’s the coolest store in St. George known as Urban Renewal. It is a fabulous consignment store, and the proprietor has an incredible eye for layout.
Wall color: habit from Behr, Home Depot; Kitchen hutch: Urban Renewal, St. George, Utah
Sarah Greenman
SG: What inspires your personal style?
MPA: Shade, light and sound are all huge inspirations for me. Lighting is soft and warm, with natural light being a large focus. Sacred objects play another large role in our living room. A Medicine Buddha from Bali is the main focus in our great room.
SG: The fantastic room is quite spacious. What did you do to make it your own?
MPA: I decided on a faux suede finish from Ralph Lauren for the great room. It attracted the overall color of the property indoors. So immediately there was balance and coziness.
Wall color: Adobe Suede, Ralph Lauren
Sarah Greenman
The den has a very masculine, country western sense. It boasts a deep leather sofa, Mexican textiles and denim blue walls. Melanie utilized red wool blankets secured during one of the many trips to Mexico — as curtains to divide the fantastic room and the den. Melanie says, “Omar loves country western, as he grew up outside of Dallas, and me, well I’m a rock ‘n’ roster Yogi. Our house reflects that in a East meets West fusion.”
Bucking Bronco art: Urban Renewal; wall color: Indigo Denim, Ralph Lauren
Sarah Greenman
The most unexpected field of the residence is a completely appointed outdoor kitchen off the den. With a gas stove, grill, fridge and bar, it’s perfect for outdoor entertaining. The glass checkerboard bricks above the range create diffused natural light and visual attraction.
Sarah Greenman
SG: Tell me about your amazing kitchen.
MPA: We are planning on installing a tankless water heater and pellet stove in another few months. Then we plan to remodel the indoor kitchen, which is sorely lacking in great appliances. In the meantime, I cook outside in my outside kitchen. I can not resist the scenic perspective. The kitchen is part of the conveniences I offer campers who stay overnight during weekend.
The Abderrahmans have 17 campsites on the property they rent to people for overnight stays.
Sarah Greenman
The vibrant display of classic road signs and license plates mark the countries the Abderrahmans have known home. They’re still working on locating a license plate from Venezuela to complete the set.
Wall color: habit from Behr Paints, Home Depot
Sarah Greenman
Sarah Greenman
SG: It appears you and your husband have quite different styles. How can that operate as you look your home?
MPA: A fantastic example of this is that the stream of his office and my library. His office is quite manly with a red accent wall. Directly off of his office is my library, a soft and more womanly space. Energy flows easily between these two rooms, making a positive balance. Our union is like that — independents merging into one through soul and love energy. We are going to be celebrating 17 decades together this September.
Wall color: habit red glaze treatment,Behr Paints, Home Depot
Sarah Greenman
Omar spends a lot of his time on the road for a production manager for bands and musicians. When at home, he wants his own space to work in. Rock memorabilia, family photographs and purposeful travel mementos fulfill his office.
Sarah Greenman
The master bedroom is a serene space filled with rich silk textiles and soft light. Melanie ardently believes that the bedroom should be a place that promotes intimacy and love, clear of clutter and external influences.
SG: Can you use a designer to make these spaces?
MPA: I don’t have a designer. It is all from me and has been a really intuitive process. My everyday yoga and meditation practice generates an eternal stream of creative juices. Omar is a huge design influence also. He enjoys a free and uncluttered space while I like to fill it up.
Bedding: Bed Bath and Beyond
Sarah Greenman
A little dressing area lies opposite the master bedroom and provides overflow space for Melanie’s closet, which is too small to house her big wardrobe. She admits to being “a clotheshorse” and has created a smart rack to maintain her yoga garb and accessories.
Sarah Greenman
A guest room with an adjoining bathroom just off the front entrance takes inspiration from the couple’s extensive travels. Cultural masks and Haitian art hang above a richly embroidered coverlet from Kashmir, India.
Sarah Greenman
A breezeway connects the house with the healing centre and yoga studio. Vintage chairs salvaged in the Southern opera house provide an area for clients to remove their shoes before going into the studio.
Folding stunt seats: Urban Renewal
Sarah Greenman
A side entrance welcomes people to the Sage Hills Healing Center with a mixture of Tibetan prayer flags and twinkle lights, which hang on a wooden pergola. The couple bought the home in 2005 and, in 2009, broke ground to construct their garage. This quickly evolved into a 4,000-square-foot addition that currently houses the upstairs office and downstairs office.
Sarah Greenman
Two Adirondack chairs, hands sculpted in the shape of the vitarka mudra, offer seating at the entrance to the yoga centre.
Chairs: The Wizz, Cedar City, Utah
Sarah Greenman
A very long staircase connects the Sage Hills Healing Center office and yoga studio.
MPA: there’s a Saraswati statue at the top of the stairs that greets each individual as they ascend the stairs into the yoga studio. She is the goddess of wisdom and music, the perfect inspirational deity for the healing centre.
Sarah Greenman
SG: What is your proudest homeowner second?
MPA: Creating a space for my yoga Enterprise. It was actually my husband’s idea. The studio includes 360-degree windows that give a magnificent view of the valley. The ceiling is blue to reflect the sky, along with the window remedies are aluminum to reflect the desert landscape. The light is indirect, as there’s a wonderful natural light from east-west exposure.
Sarah Greenman
Composite decking provides a low-maintenance space to take in the stunning view.
Sarah Greenman
Another unbelievable property attribute is a labyrinth with an astounding view of the surrounding mountains. Electricity for your home is underground so the perspectives are totally unobstructed by electricity lines.
Sarah Greenman
SG: What is the newest steal?
MPA: My greenhouse. I got it at Tuff Greenhouses, a local company out of St. George. I really like to make vegetarian meals that are healthy for events that I host at the center. And now I will have fresh organics from the greenhouse!
Sarah Greenman
The most recent gardening venture of Melanie is really a medicine wheel supporting her guest cottage. A sitting Buddha is your focal point, along with the herb garden hosts four kinds of mint, two kinds of lavender, sage, echinacea, bee balm, thyme and rosemary, amongst others.
Sarah Greenman
The Abderrahmans are always on the lookout for ways to make their house more energy efficient. They set up solar panels on the roof along with also a supplemental solar panel near the greenhouse. Melanie says that if they need to, their house can go off the grid and also be completely self explanatory.
There’s also a Memon transformer in the electrical panel. This German technology creates a force field where man-made energy waves, like from wireless mobile phones, are neutralized.
Sarah Greenman
Melanie stands under a pergola at her front entrance near a blooming purple clematis.
SG: Have you got some advice for other homeowners?
MPA: Produce a refuge that reflects your identity for a family or person.
telephone: Is the home a relaxing retreat? Discuss it with us!