Come snow or shine here in the Northern Rockies, we continue to make progress on our homes. We are about to start the finish phase on this Yellowstone Club project. Pictured is the tower element on this home. It will have 360 degree views including Lone Peak, Cedar, Spinx, and Pioneer mountains. Our clients expect to use this as a great private nook in the home. … [Read more...]
Five Questions to Ask to Ensure Your Big Sky Builder is Financially Stable
By Pete Lee, Co-Founder, President & CEO The home building industry has gone through tremendous turmoil over the last three years, and many builders have suffered tremendously because of it. (The industry was off 80%, high to low, in the last four years and is still off 74%). Big Sky, Montana was no exception to this phenomenon. If you’re about to build your dream home, make sure you don’t become collateral damage! The root cause of the industry’s problem is debt and financial … [Read more...]
Use Geothermal Heat in Snow Country
By Pete Lee, Co-Founder, President & CEO Here in the North Rockies (Jackson Hole, Wyoming & Big Sky, Montana) we have “significant” winters (another way of saying l-o-o-o-o-n-g heating seasons!). The plus side: a lot of great skiing. The downside: conventional home heating bills are often high enough to drive a chill up your spine. But the downside can be avoided by installing a geothermal heating system (also called "ground source heat" or "geo-exchange heat"). Geothermal is a … [Read more...]
How to Find a Great Architect / How to Hire a Great Architect
By Pete Lee, Co-founder, President and CEO I once had a client tell me, and I paraphrase, “We were looking for French Country and we kept getting spaceships. We finally had to hire XYZ architect instead.” Strange as it may seem, such mismatches are more common than one may think. I applaud any client’s big move to switch architects when the original one doesn't work out, but I have often wondered how much time and money was wasted before the switch was made. An even bigger disappointment is when … [Read more...]
Get a Contract for Your New Custom Home that Builds Trust Between You and Your Builder and Aligns Your Mutual interests
By Pete Lee, Co-founder, President and CEO In the many years I've built custom homes, the question eventually comes up regarding contract style. Contracts take all forms, but the single most important thing you as an owner can do is ensure that the contract aligns your incentives with the builder’s. If you have picked a reputable builder to begin with, this will assist in mitigating conflict before it happens. Often in high end custom residential construction, not all the details are worked … [Read more...]
