Building a custom home is essentially about designing a home that suits your lifestyle and personality. Situated on a high hill, this custom home boasts the most beautiful views for miles on all sides and incorporating the views into this home was the first design goal when we started the planning stage.

Some additional customization and design feature requirements that were identified in the planning stages included:

• As they were hunters at heart they wanted their home to feel like a mountain lodge with lots of rustic elements, natural wood finishes and stone.

• This couple loves their dogs and providing enough space for them in the living areas and having special dog door access for night time and access to the covered porches at the rear of the home.

• Entertaining friends. Big kitchen, great room, billiards and bar in the basement and outdoor living and landscape plans to install hot tub, pool, outdoor kitchen, bar area and gazebo.

• Ensure that they can age here easily by making large doors, wide hallways, and an elevator.

The mountain lodge rustic design element was incorporated into the exterior of the home by utilizing cedar soffits, wood finishings, and Arriscraft stone which was then chipped to look authentic. The home features ICF concrete foundation and walls so to give the house more depth we recessed the windows in the ICF wall cavity allowing us to return the stone. The house also features site poured concrete headers for a rugged and aged look.

The outdoor covered porches at the front and rear of home and the screened room at the rear left corner of the home provide even more living space, taking advantage of the far reaching views and will interact well with the future landscaping plans. Access to the covered porches on the rear of the home available in the dining area, master bedroom, and side exterior grade level.

Inside the home the great room, dining area and kitchen were designed as one large open space and have an open balcony to the basement featuring a curved steel stairwell for entertaining large crowds similar to a lodge. The large wall of windows brings the inside out when entertaining so small groups of people on the patio still feel like they are part of the larger function. The wood timbers and distressed ceiling material authenticate the mountain lodge appeal.

In terms of guests and entertaining this home offers it all including basement home theatre with full wall screen and tiered seating, five guest bedrooms, six baths, elevator and dumbwaiter, basement bar and billiards area, and wine cellar.

This home may be rustic in design but features the latest in technology with ICF concrete, geothermal heat, and whole home electronics controls for lighting, HVAC, security, and multi-media.

The homeowners couldn't be more happy with the final product. They were involved each step of the way in terms of planning, design, and construction and this home delivered everything they dreamed about, including an enjoyable building experience. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate measure of success in terms of a custom built home.