Our Farmington, New York campus recently had a visit from Tennessee clients who are looking to move from their current dwelling and into a hybrid timber frame home high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We love taking folks through the shops and talking wood with families who are on their home building journey.
Our clients purchased 400 acres of Appalachian Mountain property bordered on both sides by National Park lands. Their dream is for a high craft home that exhibits their love of elegance with the privacy and rustic opulence of a mountain chalet.
New Energy Works West Coast Architect David Shirley explains, “We’ve been working with these clients for over a year now, as the site work is completed, to get prepped and brainstorm the design. The clients wanted to build on the top of the mountain, so instead of leveling the summit of the peak, they built a retaining wall system to create a large flat landing space for the home. There is a huge amount of engineering work and roads, plus the retaining walls needed to make this project feasible.”
“The house will feature 360-degree views at 3000’ above sea level. Directly behind the home is a National Park to the North. The South goes down to the main valley and up the other side of the mountain to more National Park lands—so it’s sandwiched in nature.”
The home is in its formative stages, with collaboration and idea sharing the central focus. The clients really wanted connection to the land and people who live there. It turns out Shirley, who grew up in Tennessee is very familiar with the build location. It turns out that as a kid he spent much time four-wheeling on the land where the clients are building their dream home.
Shirley shares, “I met with the clients who shared a floor plan and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea,’. It was a Roman-villa-courtyard-style, and it wasn’t really suitable for the location or what they were telling me that they wanted out of the space. But I was feeling particularly inspired by the land, my hometown, and the conversations about what they wanted so we took a chance and redesigned it. When I gave it to them, they said, ‘That’s it!’”
“They gave permission when we were concepting to really go for it—'If you’ve been waiting to do something crazy, do it on this project’ they said. So, we went for it. To really take in the views both gables are full glass curtain walls. All you will see is glass and timber frame. It’s a highly insulated, commercial wall system. It gives us structural glass that we can use in a large span. The mullions are all strapped to the timber frame so from the inside you are going to have a real unencumbered view. That’s the magic moment of the structure.”
“There are several technologies and space designs that we are integrating to maximize the modest 2,800 square feet. The home is a single level, designed for aging in place. It’s a really nice blend of contemporary design aesthetic and a more traditional mountain timber frame. The timber frame is aspirational with curved bridge trusses that are carrying a series of purlins. Each room has a slightly different timber frame look and style to give the variety the client wanted.”
Shirley continues, “The main space and outdoor space are full timber frame; the bedroom wings are hybrids with every room having some timber elements. The exterior has tiered step-down landscaping, a sunken fire pit, and a direct connection from the living space to the outdoor kitchen and a huge gas fireplace.”
New Energy Works East Coast designer Bethany Schaertl is translating the clients’ desired ideas for the interior. “The clients want the simple elegance that fits their lifestyle and works in this mountain home they are transitioning to,” she shares. “For me, the project is about blending these two aesthetics to achieve a look that is authentic to the clients. It’s important to them for the design to be really eye catching and unique. Something that will tell a cool story.
Schaertl continues, “The clients sent over images of rock and stone formations along the property that they gravitated towards. We’ve created the home’s color pallet to mimic the land with a rusty clay color mixed with purple and neutrals for balance. We’ll see a lot of this in the exterior material choices specifically. We want the outside to relate to the inside with the timber frame finish, the tongue and groove ceiling and the outside materials. All feeling like they belong to the natural surroundings, but in the clients’ personal style.
“The fireplace is one of the features that we have spent a lot of time collaborating on. It’s looking like it will be full onyx slabs from floor to the roof. It will have lighting behind it so it will glow from four sides and illuminated veins. It’s going to look really…sexy; glamour meets mountain. This look will integrate into the kitchen with more stone slabs, less wood, balancing the space with different materials, tones, and textures.”
With Shirley and Schaertl collaborating as a bi-coastal team on the home, it’s a true full-service New Energy Works project with most divisions involved. The home will feature custom built-ins and cabinetry by NEWwoodworks, and flooring and siding by our sister company Pioneer Millworks. The job is starting to feel like a family reunion; especially for Shirley who says wistfully, “In the end I’m going to have worked on this beautiful home in my hometown and know that it’s going to be there representing our hard work and the family’s dreams for generations. It’s a pretty special project for me.”
