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Planned to Perfection
Timber Homes Illustrated October 2003
Written by Colleen Morrissey | Photography by Roger Wade
A Colorado Home Enriches a couples retirement
When Bob and Bonnie Snodgress began thinking about where they wanted to retire, they didn't have to look very far. Native Coloradans, the couple loved their home state and the '"Denver area, where they lived and worked for most of their adult lives. They were tired o suburban life, however, and wanted to follow their dream of retiring to the foothills surrounding Denver. Fortunately, they had plenty of time to look for property.
The year was 1993, and the couple wasn't planning to retire for another six years. "While taking a weekend drive 15 months after beginning their search for land, the couple discovered the Plum Creek Valley and the charming town of Sedalia, just 28 miles south of the Denver. Unfamiliar with the area, they did some research and found out that the valley had a number of historical ranches. Best of all, the valley was just the type of rural region on the fringes of a major metropolitan city that they were looking for.
It meant that they could live in the country and still visit the city. Bob and Bonnie were ecstatic when they discovered that a 140-acre ranch, full of rolling hills and scrub oak, was for sale. The property had not only useable pastureland, but also a terrific view of, a small mountain called Dawson Butte. "And the West Plum Creek runs right through the property," Bonnie says, explaining that fresh running water was a special bonus since she and her husband planned to stable several Belgian draft horses on the property once they settled there. Having purchased their land, Bob and Bonnie had no doubt about the kind of home that they would build on it. They had long been smitten with timber framing, and enjoyed paging through timber-frame home magazines and clipping photos of their favorite features. They had long been smitten with timber framing, and enjoyed paging through timber-frame home magazines and clipping photos of their favorite features.
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"For years we had looked at timber framing through magazines and had even gone to several log and timber-frame home shows," Bonnie says. "We wanted wood accents in our home, but we also wanted a more formal atmosphere. Timber framing seemed to be a good balance between the rusticity of wood and something a little bit more formal."
The couple wanted their frame to feature curved knee braces, exposed roof rafters and large trusses. Two years after purchasing their land, the couple built a large barn on it. It included a small apartment on its upper floor, where they planned to live while their new home was being built. Bonnie, who had designed the barn with a drafts-man friend, also thought that she and her friend could come up with the design for her timber-frame home. "My background is commercial construction," Bonnie says. "But after designing the barn, I realized that I didn't know enough about timber framing to do it on my own.
"Remembering that she had seen a list of architects in the back of one of her timber-home magazines, Bonnie started making phone calls. After contacting two or three of the architects listed, the couple stumbled on to Judd Dickey, an architect out of Golden, Colorado. He was also a sales representative for Riverbend Timber Framing of Blissfield, Michigan. Judd, who is now the principal architect at Mountain Timber Design, invited the couple to see a cabin that he had designed in Buena Vista, which is a few hours drive from their Denver home. "It was only a 400-square-foot cabin," Bonnie says, "but it gave us enough to see the quality of the woodworking there. "After touring the cabin, the couple decided on the spot that with both Judd and Riverbend were right for them. "We never did look at any other companies, "Bonnie says. "We liked the quality of their workmanship and the quality of the people who worked for them.", Before beginning the actual design, Judd toured the site. He decided to place the home facing south to capture the views of the butte and for solar advantage. He also concluded that the home, which is partially sunk into the hill so as to have a walkout basement, should be L-shaped. "The L design gave me the opportunity to use big, attractive valley rafters in the center of the living space where they can be seen," he says.
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"We never did look at any other companies, "Bonnie says. "We liked the quality of their workmanship and the quality of the people who worked for them."
When the couple sat down with Judd to discuss their home's design, layout and features, they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted in their home from looking at so many-magazine pictures. The couple knew they wanted their frame to feature three things in particular: curved knee braces, an exposed roof rafter system and several large trusses. Judd took their ideas and incorporated them into a design that com-bines king-post trusses with traditional bents to support the roof over the great room and master bed-room sections of the home. "I wanted to get long spans where they would be dramatic," he says, "but not so much as to be repetitive."
Since Bob and Bonnie opted to have tongue-and-groove decking on their ceilings as a backdrop to their mixed red-and-white oak frame, Judd chose a milky colored aspen wood to help it stand out. "The aspen is light against the oak," Judd says, "and shows off the timbers beautifully. "After Judd drew up the plans for the home, the couple flew to Blissfield to see for themselves how their frame was being made and to meet the people that were responsible for making it. "Part of what you pay for in your package is to have one of their on-site advisers come out when the frame and panels are raised, and we met him also," Bonnie says. "It was neat to meet the people who put every-thing together.
"When the couple got back, they interviewed several builders before hiring Dave DeJaeger, the owner of DeJaeger Construction in Sedalia, to prepare the building site and then finish the home after the frame and panels were raised. One reason they chose Dave was that besides being a builder, he was an architect. He looked at the plans and suggested several ways that they could customize their home using built-ins. They heartily agreed. "We did all the built-ins in maple, "Dave says. "We created entertainment centers, office cabinetry, seating benches around the fireplace and the fireplace mantel.
"One member of his crew also spent two monrl1S on site creating the Shaker-style staircase, which winds its way up three levels from the bottom walkout level to the loft. "The trim, doors and stairs were all tied in to the look, " Dave says. To give the home a warm, timeworn look, Dave topped the floors with 3-, 5- and 7-inch, random-width oak planking. "The floors are all No.3 oak, which has more knots in it to give it a very rustic appearance," he says. "And because of the larger scale of the house, along with the wider floorboards, we went with a wider trim all around. "Bob and Bonnie are overjoyed with the care and detail that everyone involved contributed to make their home as special as it is, from the creative design to the talented artisans employed to create from scratch the finishing details. It is a fitting foundation for their retirement lifestyle. "The house has such a wonderful feeling about it," Bonnie says. THI
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