16 Responses to “Mountain Home Taking Shape On Lake Pend Oreille”

1. Dale Scott on April 4th, 2009 3:26 pm

   Very nice John! I don’t suppose all of the snow we’ve received has helped the progress. I hope you post more photos once it is completed.

2. Debbie Anderson on April 5th, 2009 8:06 pm

   Hi John -

   Just another one of your great projects in Northern Idaho. The views from the living spaces are going to be spectacular. Great project!

   Debbie

3. Dave Hughes on April 6th, 2009 8:44 am

   Wow, what a spectacular mountain home! It would be great to see the floor plans online too if that wouldn’t be giving away any custom architecture secrets. What is you preference in using cultured stone? Sometimes it can come off looking a little too Disney but the right mix can be downright sexy! Please keep blogging. Its good too see quality resort home building out there. Do you do anything smaller as well?

4. John Hendricks on April 6th, 2009 10:46 am

   Thanks Dale! It was definitely slow going over the winter with the extreme cold and snow we had in December and early January, but Dan Fogerty and his crew were able to catch up. They’ve been doing a great job so far.

5. John Hendricks on April 6th, 2009 3:37 pm

   Thanks Debbie! They do have some awesome views.

6. John Hendricks on April 6th, 2009 4:26 pm

   Dave,

   Thanks for the comment. Hopefully I can eventually get some better photos than my amateur construction administration shots.

   The manufactured stone is getting more and more realistic, though I still have a strong preference for the real thing. Much more “sexy” in my book. The manufacturers of the faux stone recommend you don’t get within 6-8″ of the soil, so it doesn’t look like it has any function unless you build the foundation out and up to the bottom of the stone. Some bury the stone into the ground, but I haven’t seen a cultured product that can withstand the elements for more than a few years. The manufactured stone has its advantages in that it’s much lighter and easier to apply. There is also a real stone called thin stone, that is much thinner than the common cut stone. This is also easy to apply because of the lighter weight. It is about the same price as the real stone from the supplier, but in some areas such as a chimney, you don’t have to provide as much of a base under it. Add that to the lighter weight and the installation costs make it less costly than the bulkier stone.

   We do design smaller projects than this one. We’re currently designing a roughly 1,500 square foot home in Mexico. In general people are wanting to build smaller homes than they’d have wanted ten years ago, or even one year ago, based on baby boomers wanting to go smaller and the economy. The green movement and energy costs also play a factor in the equation. There are also some people who have lost a lot of money in the stock market and decide that they want to do a remodel to their existing home rather than build a new home. We design remodels as well.

7. Tom Crowell on April 7th, 2009 9:44 am

   John,
   It looks like it will be absolutely beautiful. Nice website as well. Love the blog.
   Tom
   http://www.jetbrokersinc.com

8. John Hendricks on April 7th, 2009 3:53 pm

   Thanks Tom. We’re pretty new in the blog world so that’s good to hear.

9. Jenny on April 7th, 2009 8:11 pm

   incredible architecture – must be quite the challenge to design around that terrain. Very impressive.

10. Malia on April 7th, 2009 9:25 pm

    First it was “pdfing” now it is blogging. Is there no end to your skills beyond being the best architectural designers of mountain homes? Beautiful home, John. I hope I get to see it in person someday.

11. John Hendricks on April 8th, 2009 10:42 am

    Thanks Jenny! The terrain wasn’t too difficult. Flat sites are definitely easier to deal with, but the steep slopes make it fun. Water is always a big issue, and the previous home had leaking problems. We had a geotechnical report completed for an initial investigation. We also have grading and drainage plans which divert water around the house. There is a daylight basement that we also heavily waterproofed. The costs of prevention are much cheaper than paying for it after the fact! Thanks for the comment!

12. John Hendricks on April 8th, 2009 11:10 am

    Malia, thanks for your wonderful sense of humor. I’m not going to let that comment get to anybody’s heads.

13. Pete Lehmkuhl on April 11th, 2009 6:19 am

    Hi John,

    Can you and your team build traditional post and beam construction?

14. John Hendricks on April 13th, 2009 9:25 am

    Hi Pete,

    Thanks for the question. Yes, we can design traditional post and beam. Most of our work has been 2×6 construction, with some post and beam thrown in for accents. Post and beam is a great look, and it’s easy to design given the right parameters.

15. Jim Gregory on April 20th, 2009 6:57 am

    John,

    Another spectacular house! Looks amazing!

    Jim

16. John Hendricks on April 21st, 2009 5:02 pm

    Thanks Jim!

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