During childhood summers spent in a log cabin on the shores of the Great Lakes, Joe Tigue and his eight brothers and sisters enjoyed the kind of existence even Tom Sawyer might have envied.
"The boys always played Cowboys and Indians in the woods, and there was tag kick the can and volleyball out on the beach," Joe recalls. After an evening match of Monoploy by the fire, they would each climb, exhausted, into their bunk beds at night. "I grew up in the city," Joe says, "so to me, it was a great adventure."
Even as a grown man raising his own children In the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas, Joe’s fascination with log homes never waned. Adults themselves, the family always seized the opportunity to stay in log homes and lodges nestle amid the Rockies or the snow-covered Alps. But it wasn’t until a fateful visit to Telluride, Colorado, in 1998 that Joe was inspired to build a log home of his own.
"I happened to be there in August, when there were dairy cattle grazing in the valley that serves as the gateway to the community," Joe says. "It was a tremendous pastoral scene, and I was really struck by the beauty of the San Miguel Mountains and the Wilson Range, as well as Telluride down in the canyon. It’s an idyllic town in an unbelievably beautiful setting.
"Sometimes logs can be overwhelming, but by contrasting them with a fair amount of windows, we kept the feeling inside cozy but light," says Ginny Tigue.
Joe and Ginny immediately began touring Telluride with a real-estate agent, finally settling on a 6 1/2-acre lot in an upscale subdivision on the north side of the valley. Trudging up the steep mountainside during his initial visit, Joe remembers catching his first glimpse of the view. From his 9,400-foot-high vantage point, the valley unfurled below him, giving way to the mountain village and ski area and a skyline dominated by towering Mount Wilson. "I said, ‘Hey, this is a knockout view!’" Joe recalls with a laugh. " ‘I must have this!’"
OPEN SPACE
Determined to take full advantage of their postcard panorama, Joe and Ginny interviewed a number of architects. They were most impressed with Wayne Huff of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, who has designed roughly 200 log homes around southwestern and central Colorado over the past 20 years. "Log homes can be ponderous and heavy if you’re not careful, but Wayne is good at opening up the interiors with high ceilings and large amounts of glass to usher in light," Joe explains. "He was an easy choice for us."
Their general contractor, Allan Ranta of Ranta Construction, seemed an obvious choice, as well. After gathering recommendations from a number of home owners in the area, Joe interviewed five builders, and the odds weighed heavily in Allan’s favor. "He’s a lifelong resident of Telluride," Joe says. Plus, he’s a hands-on builder with a home in the same development where we were planning to build. That appealed to us."
Allan then suggested log home supplier Jack Horner of Forest Classics, Ltd., a custom hand crafter located in Montrose, Colorado. "We compete with other local companies as well as Montana-and Canadian-based companies for many projects. But part of the benefit of choosing us is that we’re close to Telluride, and everybody likes to be able to reach out and choke their subs," jokes Jack. "We only build about six to eight homes a year," he explains, "because we and-build everything."
"Every room in the house was designed to have a view," Joe says, including the guest rooms. French doors, cedar furnishings and a hand-stitched quilt purchased at a church auction serve to make these cozy sleeping quarters even more inviting."
Having assembled their team, Joe and Ginny explained their goals for the home. "We wanted a place where we could have friends and relatives, lots of them, come up and enjoy a comfortable, cozy setting," Ginny says. "We wanted to keep the great room, dining room and kitchen open so people could chat even if they weren’t in the same room."
The couple of wanted four bedrooms plus four built-in bunk beds and a sleeping alcove in the loft to accommodate" up to 16 overnight guests. Finally, they craved a spacious deck to soak in the view. Beyond that, Wayne recalls, "They left it up to our imagination."
LINEAR FLOORPLAN
The architect’s response to having carte blanche on design was to build a long, linear, 6,044-square-foot, three-level home nestled into the steeply sloping hillside.
"On cold, blustery winter nights, the master bedroom’s fireplace offers a warm sanctuary."
"There’s a view of the mountains from just about every room," notes Wayne, who oriented the home toward the southwest to take advantage of solar gain as well as the panorama of peaks.
"We have fairly cold winters, but we have a lot of’sunny days, and that southern orientation really helps with temperatures inside the house," he explains. "We’ve also built expansive decks and terraces that face the south, and when the sun in shining, those are warm and comfortable even on winter days."
The home is made of and-peeled Douglas fir logs that are a minimum of 12-inches in diameter, joined at the corner with a weather-tight compression notch to help keep out the elements. High-end interior finishes, such as wide-plank floors, plaster accent walls and custom cabinetry add notes of luxury. A whole-house wiring system allows them to adjust lights, music and thermostat controls in every room with the touch of a button.
"The multifunctional loft serves as computer room, exercise area and occasionally as sleeping quarters for extra guests."
"This is much more luxurious than the cabins we stayed in when I was a child," Joe admits with a laugh. He enjoys vacationing here not only with Ginny and his children, who love to ski, hike and horseback ride, but with the brothers and sisters who shared his adventures in that log cabin alongside the Great Lakes so many years ago.
"In 2002, we had a family reunion in Telluride, and the whole group was here," he recalls. "We had a lot of golfers and mountain bikers and hikers, and the kids were having fun scrambling up and down the hill and out in the trees."
The bunk beds were full, too, just like old times.
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