The first challenge is always aesthetics. Before the ground was broken, we planned the site to enable construction with as little impact to the surrounding environment as possible. The Lake homesite was very steep with limited vehicle access and much of the building materials had to be manhandled to the job site.

The second challenge was all technical. The building site is on the shoreline of the lake and backed by a steep 40 degree hillside. This site required us to carefully excavate the lower portion of the hill and erect a 12 foot concrete retaining wall for the back wall of the house.

Some of the unique challenges for this project were the installation of two 3000 lb. beams, 22 feet off the main floor of the structure without the use of a crane! Slow and Easy, two of our best tools, took care of the problem. We installed extra blocking in the floors, in the bays adjacent to the retaining wall and horizontal wall blocking which would later be used to attach the vertical exterior Board & Batten siding.

This is a very cozy house as we utilized, in addition the to usual interior wall insulation, 4' x 8' sheets of 1 inch close cell foam insulation board over the exterior sheeting. We fastened and taped all of the seams to give weather protection and applied Cedar Board & Batten siding. While the siding will always project the uniqueness of a house, in this case, the Cedar was also used to blend the structure into the surrounding forested environment.

Beams and posts were all larger than required by local building codes to maintain the look of heavy massiveness. Cedar and treated materials were utilized extensively on the exterior of the building to eliminate much of the maintenance associated with hot Alpine summers and frigid winter temperatures of the lake country.

Metal roofing is the ideal material for high country living, shedding the Pine debris and snow with ease while affording one a sense of security in the event of fire. High efficiency windows and skylights are a trademark of Palmer Construction.  We like lots of light!