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Custom Spec Home - 82 Westover

Building in the mountains puts a premium on knowing how to transform the challenges of marginal and difficult lots into opportunities. Our house at 82 Westover is a good example. Given the steep drop-off of this lot, we worked to create a house that would aesthetically work on the site while allowing us to preserve the topography and soils. With a historic district nearby, we wanted to recognize and complement the prevailing design vocabulary, yet add something fresh and different to the scene.

Throughout construction, we left the land contours unchanged and neither brought nor removed any soil. To make the house work with and over the land, we placed it on a graceful steel framework that let us cantilever the back deck over a ravine, looking out on lush trees. A pedestrian bridge leads to a house crowned by bell cast rafters and graced with refreshing details. For instance, two vase-like sink basins rise a foot above a custom-made bathroom vanity. The kitchen counters are polished concrete and stainless steel. Trim is custom-milled, and the paint colors inside and out are paradoxically powerful, yet serene.

As a certified HealthyBuilt House, 82 Westover combines an exceptionally tight envelope with an energy recovery and ventilation system that avoids stale air buildup and balances air pressure so there's no tension on the envelope. Brian and Jennifer Cory, who bought this home, have two children who suffered with severe, chronic asthma. The Cory kids are now asthma-free, with no doctor visits and no inhalers. And the family's monthly energy bills have dropped from $500 in their New Jersey home to $110 total here.

The Corys call their house "a work of art." We think so, too, and not the least of it lies in respecting and preserving what we found when we started.