A River Hideaway

Oooooh, I love the seclusion, and of course the proximity to the river. The river is a great place to take a nap, you know. Anyone who's ever lived on the coast will tell you it's visually beautiful, but rather annoying when you're trying to sleep! It's just not... constant enough. Loud, then quiet. Calm, then POUNDING. The river, though.... that's another story.

Wood

I'm sure this modern cabin in Portland is more to my wife's liking.... when I show her images of unfinished concrete she's like, "Really? That's not exactly the quaint mountain getaway I imagined."

Looking for Buildable Land

Look at these boulders! Isn't that wonderful........ boulders. Looking for land to build on can be a real challenge. I suppose it's nicer to do it from the internet, but still... how are you supposed to determine anything from this image? Where's the road? Is this facing North? Where does the property line end? Is this even part of the property?

Anyway.... I'm purposely not giving you the address 'cause I don't want anyone to swoop on this property before we decide to swoop on it for ourselves.

This is the same land I did some sketches for in an earlier post.

Bucci Brazil

There's quite a bit I like about this house.... concrete and open floor plan in particular. I realize it's really TOO open for a home in the mountains. The tiered plan could work quite nicely on a lot with a heavy slope, though.

Rudin House

This is the home that started it all... the Rudin house in Leymen, France. Designed by none other than Herzog and de Meuron, this structure incorporates some of the main elements I'm interested in: Concrete and pilotis.

Some Inspiration

I'm most interested in a concrete structure with radiant heating. A fireplace would be nice, though I'm not certain about the most environmentally-appropriate approach (if there IS an appropriate approach).

Early Designs

OK, we found some land in Big Trees that's waaaaay cheaper than anything around it. Why so cheap? An incredibly awkward lot most people seem afraid to build on. I'm not afraid, but the problem is: Big Trees. Although the CC&R's have been described as "not very onerous" they may not take a liking to my idea of what a house in the mountains could (and should) look like. My sketch shows some early looks at what type of space the lot has. Fun with triangles! Thanks, Geometry teacher from high school! One huge problem is parking. The slope and shape of the lot means any parking is going to have to float on pilotis.

The Search Is On for Land

We've narrowed it down... we most certainly want our vacation home to be in the mountains, above the snow line, but accessible in the winter. The location must have access to water deep enough to swim in during summers, preferably a river. We're hoping for something less than four hours away!