Photos courtesy of New Energy Works | Photos by Scott Hemenway
First, they created an open floor plan connecting modestly sized spaces. “Because the spaces are open and mostly connected to one another, it feels large enough and comfortable enough for two people, or maybe a few more people than that, but it doesn’t feel so large that the two [homeowners] get lost on a daily basis,” says Ty. The Douglas fir frame, finished with a Danish oil, contributes to this as well. A parallel chord truss spans the wide room, balancing the volume of the large space, and, as Ty puts it, “Bringing it back down to human scale.”
Secondly, the entertaining areas are located away from the main floor living spaces. A bunk room upstairs and a rec room alongside additional guest rooms downstairs creates places for people to congregate. “But it doesn’t add to the overall feel of the size of the house for the owners on a daily basis,” explains Ty. “To their eye, they don’t see those areas.”
And finally, this home more than exceeds in expanding its living areas to the great outdoors. Situated at the foot of a mountain and surrounded by idyllic views, these owners put their site to good use with nearly 2,000 square feet of outdoor entertaining space. Downstairs, the rec room opens up to a stone patio that leads to a fire pit. Follow another stone path up to the main floor, where the kitchen, living and dining area open up to a screened porch via a retractable glass wall. “Guests can freely flow in and out because you’re creating a really large opening between the interior space and this transitional exterior space with the screen porch,” says Ty. “You get this inside-outside blurring. And in this location, boy when you get days where you can do that, they’re just the best.”
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