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backs up to another cabinet in the main living area that is finished
in oak. Here is where the TV lives, concealed behind doors except
when someone is watching.
There is a
single gas fireplace that opens out to both the music room and the
living room. Says Bill, "Not opting for a wood-burning fireplace
took a lot of soul-searching; I like to burn wood. But, I was also
thinking ahead to a time when it will be physically more difficult
for me to cut and carry the wood." Perhaps unconsciously, the
same foresighted thinking may have taken place in the evolution
of the design. "We didn't think ahead to just having the house
on one level, but in retrospect it would-or should-have been a requirement."
Both sides
of the chimney are faced with white marble quarried in Proctor,
VT, while the hearth in the living room is locally-quarried Isle
La Motte Black Marble (actually an example of the Chazy limestone
that the island was once noted for). Bruce made the hearth and mantel
in the music room from the same walnut as the cabinetry.
One thing that
Bruce pointed out to me was the coexistence of the many different
species of wood found in the house. For example, the floor in the
music room is mahogany, while the wood floor in the rest of the
house is red oak.
Bruce milled the baseboards out of oak too, while the remainder
of the interior trim work is western red cedar. Along with the hemlock
frame and #2 red cedar ceiling, black walnut and oak cabinetry,
that's a lot of different
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species
that need to coexist. "You wouldn't expect that many species
of wood to flow together like they did," says Bruce.
Construction
on the project began in April 1999. After the site work was completed
and the foundation poured, a six-man crew from North Woods Joinery
arrived with the frame and their crane. Four days later, with the
hemlock frame erected and securely pegged together with oak pegs,
they turned the project over to Bruce. Together with his wife, two
sons and a hired man, Bruce turned the frame into a home over the
course of the next year. Bill and Marj actually moved into the house
nine months later in December, about three months before it was
finally finished. Fortunately, client, contractor, architect and
timber framer all enjoyed a fine working relationship, and it shows
in the completed house.
The home is
heated by a hydronic radiant heating system. Loops of radiant heating
tubes are encased in a thin gypsum/concrete composite slab poured
right on top of the subfloor. When the winter winds come howling
out of the Canadian north, all the floors radiate gentle warmth.
The Great Room windows also contribute solar gain in the winter
, while in the summer, the sun is shaded enough from the roof overhead
and by trees in the morning and afternoon to keep the room from
overheating
There's not
much that Bill and Marj would change about their house… and,
as Bill says, "The architect would kill us if we tried."
It's possible that they'll build a detached garage at some point,
but for now, the Hills are content as they enjoy another Lake Champlain
summer.
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