Better Rocky Mountain Homes by Design

This residence has several special architectural features. I set up the foundation to wall detail so the home appeared to have a stone foundation, the solid steel wood burning firebox in a full masonry surround and chimney so that the fire can be as hot as wanted, the interior is timbered, vertical T&G wood is used on the interior walls with a special base and head mould on the windows and doors, the siding was installed an air space between the board and batt siding and the exterior sheathing, the doors are solid stain grade wood panel doors; the 1250 Sq Ft footprint was hammered for all I could get. One of my favorite features is the deep arched masonry window wells on the front of the lower floor.

There is a construction technique for residential construction which has superior structural integrity over standard 2x stud construction. After volunteering in the cleanup/reconstruction of the Birmingham ’98 tornado and seeing the same situation in the new debris strewn countryside after the April 27, 2011 tornadoes an Alabama, we have to re-evaluate the minimum standard used for residential construction. There are multiple reasons for this: First is energy efficiency; sustainable construction practices mandate the use of energy efficient materials. Not only materials that perform by allowing less waste of the dollar used to heat and cool your home, but materials that are readily available in our environment which have no or very low emissions of phenyl formaldehydes and remain stable and structurally sound past their useful life cycle. Second is strength of structure: Standard 2x stud construction can be engineered to be super strong. Accomplishing this is simply an a...

The views of Mount Wilson in San Miguel County from this location are amazing! This house is about 6,500 sq. ft.