Fun In the Valley!

With each trip we take to the Valley, we get more and more excited about having our own place out there. There is no better motivation to keep the project moving forward. Below are a few shots from our winter excursions with friends and family:

 

Continuing to Develop the Plans

Long time, no posts. Over the past few months, the plans and the process has continued to move forward. (Or so our architect tells us!) The plans are very close to being ready for the next step: engineering. Once engineered, the plans will be submitted to general contractors to bid on, as well as to the Edelweiss HOA and Okanogan County Building Department for approval.

A month or so ago, we were very close to sending the plans out to be engineered. Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to have a roofer take a quick look at the butterfly roof to ensure it could be built in a cost-effective manner. When the roof was designed, Ryan, our architect, called out a membrane roofing system. However, we did not like the look of the membrane roof at all (think duct tape). We preferred a metal roof and asked the roofer to review the plans to ensure a metal roof could be constructed and installed. Unfortunately, the roofer could not guarantee that the roofing system would remain watertight (i.e., we had a problem).

Ryan tried a number of different variations to keep the butterfly roof, but in the end, we decided to go with a shed roof. Below are a few images of the new roof design:

We still need to work out a few of the details, but the above renderings provide a good idea of what the roof will look like.

We are also making progress with the heating and cooling system. We are now leaning towards radiant heating throughout the house, along with a mini-ductless split system for cooling, as well as a redundant heat source. The mini-ductless systems operate two or three interior units that are mounted in separate rooms. Each unit comes with its own remote control that allows you to set the temperature individually in different rooms. Below are a few images of the interior units thoughtfully incorporated into the design of a house:

Updated Renderings

Below are a few updated renderings. The new renderings reflect our recent decision to move away from the orange tones of Cor-ten siding. The steel shown is still not exactly the color we are looking for, but it is getting closer. The new renderings also show metal railings, instead of cement, as well as a metal roof.

1st Design/Construction Issues

In mid-September we had a very productive meeting with our architect Ryan and Joel from Modern Shelter. We were (still are) trying to decide on exterior materials and discussed a number of different options. We are leaning towards materials that require minimal to no maintenance. Cement, metal, and glass are the big winners, but we still need to get more specific on the exact materials and their location on the house.

This is where we ran into the first of our design/construction issues.      

First, the cement wall detailing the entryway may be difficult to construct as it is currently drawn. Right now the cement wall is a shared interior/exterior wall, which means it needs to be insulated. Nice to look at, tricky to pull off. We are tossing around a few ideas, including faking the cement on the interior side, but we may ultimately lose the cement on the interior...bummer.

Second, the roofing system called out in the plans (single ply) is not attractive. At all. It actually resembles duct-tape. This wouldn't be an issue if our roof wasn't very visible, but the roof is going to be extremely visible. The road to access the property is above the building site (i.e., you will see the roof every time you approach the house). We don't want to lose the very cool butterfly roof, so needless to say, we are reviewing other roofing options.

We left the meeting with a few things to think about, but also with a number of nice renderings of the project. The visuals were great--they allowed us to review a number of exterior materials and get a sense of what they would look like on the house. We are really happy with how the cabin looks.

 

Living and Ground Level Plan

After working and reworking the floor plan layout numerous times, we have come up with a plan that looks great and should have an excellent flow. Trying to keep the square footage down forced us (mainly Ryan) to come up with solutions to a variety of issues, including orientation of the kitchen and living room towards the views, proper placement of the powder room, and the location of the pantry. But we (mainly Ryan) figured it out!

We are happy with the layout and looking forward to selecting materials.

    

Early Renderings

In late June we had another productive meeting with Ryan. There are still a few details to work out, but the overall concept is falling into place.

Below are a few preliminary renderings Ryan provided us. Next steps are to finalize the layout and begin to select materials.

  

Refining the Concept

In mid-June we sat down with Ryan for another design meeting. Meeting with Ryan in closer succession has really made the process more fluid, and we have been making steady progress. 

While many of the ideas from the initial drawings have remained, in the below images, a few new concepts have emerged. There is now a small glass hallway that separates the master bedroom from the main living area. The master bedroom has been bumped out to accentuate the views of the mountains and provide for a more modular feel to the home's profile. There is also a slick window in the master bath that will accommodate views while in the tub.
 
The kitchen has been moved forward, pushing the dining room to the back portion of the house. The kitchen has a huge island and is oriented to capture the views. Moving the dining room was an easy choice because we will spend way more time in the kitchen.

The lower level has also been modified to provide for a large media room and spare bedroom.

We are very happy with the new design additions! We are still considering a few more details related to the floor plan but are getting very close to finalizing the concept.