FAQ for Robert (Bob) Beaury and others

1. What was your original vision for the house?

• Originally we were going to have a 2+ story but Jerry convinced us that the scale of a huge rising ceiling in the greatroom would be too much for the footprint, and besides, by lowering the ceiling we saved a bit of money while gaining a great deal of comfort.  He recommended Sarah Susanka's Not so Big House for help. 
• The original design was flipped so that our rear door was the front and more formal door but I wanted an airlock/mudroom at the main entry.
• We also like pocket doors and have none.  We decided that they weren't worth losing space over.  Our few walls are crammed full of HVAC and electrical work.  

1A. What were the two or three most important objectives you hoped to accomplish with the construction of the house?   

• This house needed to fit into the landscape; I wanted a little house in the woods so we didn't want to tear out any more trees than necessary for safe and easy living.  
• It needed to allow us to live on the land; that meant lots of windows, native or local products and local contractors.  Energy (of all sorts) efficiency was important: heavy duty insulation with the SIPs, geothermal heat pump, passive solar from the windows but an overhang that kept the summer sun to a minimum, efficient wood burning stove.
• We want to live here as long as possible and since we are getting a late start on our dream house that meant one floor living: laundry on the first floor; minimal lip, hand rails and seat in the shower; lever door handles; low maintenance HardiePlank, Trex outside stairs, bluestone patio.
• And we wanted a lot of wood.  We have hemlock, hickory, 2 pines, oak, maple, cherry, walnut, douglasfir, cedar.

2. What process did you go through to select a construction contractor and why did you select Envinity?  We knew we wanted a timberframe and I wasn't comfortable with the national brands.  Buying a house should be different from buying a pair of shoes at Payless or a pillow at Walmart.  When we saw the League of Women Voters' house tour (2008?) featured a house under construction (Moonxxx) by Envinity we toured that house as well as Shawn Pardi's.  That live edge post told me to follow up with these guys.

3. What were some of the challenges during the build process from your perspective?  

• Keeping costs down.   
• We'd been working with Michael Haluga, architect, for our basic design but since he is familiar with conventional construction Jerry had to do some redesign to convert it to timberframe.  We probably didn't convert early enough in the process. 
• Knowing where to put electrical features before the SIPs were ordered and the timbers were carved was a challenge. Luckily we had good guidance.
• Timing the orders of the fixtures that we bought to arrive when the crew needed them was a challenge in decision making.  We missed on a few lights.

4. What features of your house do you feel are particularly special or that you particularly like and why?  

• The railing around the loft and catwalk is a work of art. The only direction we gave was that I needed some softness in the house.  Everything was 90 and 45 degree angles; chamfered edges on the big posts and beams helped but I wanted a curve somewhere.  Bill presented us with a concept drawing of beautiful copper waves through walnut railing.  We'd never talked about copper as a favorite accent metal or our collection of copper measures. Jonas and Bill are woodworking geniuses.
• Then there's the window seat in the loft with 2 bins for bedding storage inside. The doors are very heavy but lift easily and have a great locking mechanism for safety.
• I had a long cherry live edge board from my mother's property near Philadelphia that Doug was able to fold into a powder room vanity.  He did a beautiful job on the dovetail joinery.  I had a picture for him, but his finishing made this piece more beautiful than the original.  He used a piece of local cherry in another detail in that room.
• The walnut tree and brace never fail to catch my eye and welcome me home.
• I love waking up to the view out the 4 big bedroom windows. Right now the trees are sort of raggedy, but it won't be that way forever. Since it's a westerly exposure the afternoon summer sun is a little challenge, but we'll enjoy the winter sun.
• The special features that Scott included in the tile: a  tile "rug" under the wall of windows and a ribbon of glass tile around the shower with an inset diamond on the shower seat. When he turned a corner in the shower with half a tile, it looks like he folded the tile because the same coloring continues on the next wall. He also took a pile of bluestone and turned it into a beautiful hearth for our woodburning stove. 
• I love looking at the joints of each post and beam and wishing that my (former) math and science students could have met Jerry and John to learn a real world use of geometry. 
• Even the basement has special features: the manifold for the water is a design in symmetry and elegance, yet another work of art for this house;  extra heat from the heat pump is fed into the hot water to boost the temperature is another special feature; we are glad to have 8' ceiling space so that at some point in the (distant) future we may finish a room down there.
• Our grandson loves the knee-wall (AKA foxhole) storage that he uses as a fort.  When I told him they were full of toys, he told us he would pull them all out.  The tiny window pass through could have easily been covered over, but Doug saw the potential play factor and finished it as it it were to be seen by crowds of visitors instead of a couple of little boys. 
• We love the character of all the wood, alone and in combination.   The colors, knots, checks and variations in grain prove to us it's real wood and are as beautiful as any painting or sculpture.

5.  What was your experience working with Envinity; what do you think we did really well, what could we have done better?

• We started out answering their questions but soon learned that through conversations and listening to their ideas we'd get something much better than we'd thought of.  They always came to us for approvals before they started work but it didn't take us long to just trust them to have great ideas.
• We hadn't pre-built this house in our minds and were very open to ideas of experience and craftsmen. We were never disappointed.
• Communication between from the crew to us was superb.  Doug and the subs called Paul to let him know of changes in plans and schedules.  Jerry could be contacted by email and cell.  When we had questions we could count on a quick, clear response from anyone of the crew members, 24/7.

6. What has it been like living in the house; has it met your original vision and what plans do you have for the future?

• So far we have been very impressed with the air flow and ease of cooling.  We just open the windows at night and close them mid-day to keep the house comfortable  even without air conditioning.
• Hard-scaping a stone retaining wall and bluestone patio and landscapng with native plants will begin phase III later this summer.

How long have your been planning this project?

• We started thinking about where to put a house in 1974 while we were at U of Michigan.  a college town seemed perfect. 
• Which university town was still a question until 2003.
• Timberframing took hold of Paul in the mid 80's when This Old House featured Bensonwood. It was reinforced with a visit there in the early '90's and a chance to help raise a timberframe gazebo at a Pa Forest Stewards' annual meeting in 2008 at the home of Nancy Baker.
• Which timberframer was still a question until 2007.
• The original concept for house design came from an Internet search and my grandmother's home.  There are probably pieces of each home we've lived in incorporated in the design; the foxhole comes from Spring Ave (Elkins Park, PA), the pantry from Mark St (Bellevue, NE), laundry near the bedrooms (Ann Arbor, MI), the window seat from Nash Rd (Acton, MA),