Mountain Living

Life at The Top

A TEAM OF DEDICATED PROFESSIONALS CREATES A ONE-OF-A-KIND MOUNTAIN HOME, ONE DESERVING OF A HOME OF THE YEAR HONORABLE MENTION.

By Kelly Smith
Photography by Brenda Falvey

High atop a mountainside in Alberta, Canada, an exquisite estate named Falcon's View offers just that: a commanding birds-eye view of the Bow River Valley and the majestic Rocky Mountains rising from the valley floor. This 10,000-square-foot home is a masterpiece of quality craftsmanship, combining a magnificent setting with intelligent use of reclaimed and indigenous materials and a flowing, comfortable floor plan.

For these reasons and more, the home has received an Honorable Mention in Mountain Living's Home of the Year contest.

From the exterior, Falcon's View evokes the landscape around it. The pitched gable roof and dormer windows call to mind the craggy peaks in the distance, while exposed timbers hint at the timber-frame construction inside. Locally quarried rundle stone was used both to veneer the exterior and as indoor structural columns, walls, fireplaces and entry floors.

The home was designed by Bill Marshall of Calgary-based Marshall Tittemore Architects. His design philosophy was to create a home that adds class and sophistication to Rocky Mountain architecture." The interior timber frame was handcrafted by Ontario's Thistlewood Timber Frame Homes, using reclaimed Douglas fir. The timber framing was installed, and much of the home itself was crafted, by Master Craftsman Robert Mitchell of Mitchell Masterhomes, a Thistlewood authorized dealer.

Exemplifying an insightful use of reclaimed materials was one of the design goals of Thistlewood Homes and Robert Mitchell. Most of the interior timbers were reclaimed, with sources including two-centuries-old timbers pulled from log booms in the Ottawa River and pieces salvaged from factories and warehouses in Toronto. An original Canadian Pacific Railway trestle in British Columbia found new life as the wood flooring. The ceiling boards, cabinets and trim were crafted from logs reclaimed from British Columbia's Ruby Lake. "This old-growth Douglas fir has tight, compressed growth rings," explains Thistlewood's Heather Anderson. "It makes for a strong, high quality building material."

Incorporating the owner's needs in the timber-frame design fell to award winning craftsman Robert Mitchell. For the past two years, he has won the honor of having built the most outstanding home in Canada, as distinguished by the Canadian Home Builders Association. He describes the unique timber-frame application in Falcon's View: "The preliminary design included soaring cathedral type ceilings, immense amounts of stone work and a need for the home to sustain the wealth of the owner's furniture and art. I recommended that we put the majority of the timber in the roof of the structure, and not to clutter up the walls with timber posts and ties."

The hardy stone and wood exterior of Falcon's View belies in the comfortable interior revealed inside. The rich patina of Douglas fir warms the rooms, while expansive windows offer ever-changing views of the surrounding landscape. The owners worked with Sticks and Stones Design Group of Canmore, Alberta, to complete the finishing details of the interior. Colorful rugs adorn the wood floors, and stonework ranges from slate on the bars and vanities to limestone in the bathrooms. The owner's antiques, heirlooms and art collection bring personality to the home. Sticks and Stones owner Carla Fisher comments on the project: " It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with the kind of people who were involved with this home. Everything was done in a very deliberate, thought-out manner. That kind of experience doesn't come around very often."

The floor plan has a relaxed feel, of which the owner says,"Our home is functional yet extremely aesthetic with all the amenities we require. It is a floor plan that provides a perfect lifestyle balance for us of functionality and privacy."

Falcon's View is an exemplary home by any measure. It is a hallmark of inventive design, handcrafted with superb care; it is a home that will be enjoyed for generations to come.