About a decade ago my brother and I bought 2 lots in the Highlands Development in Breckenridge. On one of them we decided to build a spec home.  We needed a design concept and the one I came up with involved a story. After all, I did come from the movie business, and a good movie (or project) always begins with a good story. The story of this house would be this:  Once upon a time around the early 1900s a man named Caleb (don’t ask me why his name was Caleb, it just popped into my head) decided to build a home for himself. He’d been building homes for other people all his life, and now it was his turn. Caleb was a saver. Over the years after each project he had taken the leftover materials, beams, siding, boards, and saved them in a big pile behind his tiny cabin. Until one day he decided he had enough of these leftovers to build an entire house.

So, with Caleb’s Journey I first began to design and build using reclaimed and recycled materials. The result was fantastic. Not only were we doing something good for the environment, but the reclaimed siding made the garage doors look fantastic and truly original.  The reclaimed flooring and ceiling cladding gave the interior great depth of character. I’ll talk more about my use of reclaimed materials in later postings, but here’s some photos of the home we called Caleb’s Journey.

Fabulous Calecho, by the award winning design and build team recently featured in Architectural Digest, is newly priced for sale at $2,790,000. For those looking for a second home in Breckenridge, Calecho is perched majestically above the Breckenridge Golf Course and Gold Run Nordic Center on a sunny lot that is the envy of the rest of the Highlands neighborhood. Those searching for a sound investment will find Calecho priced to sell with fantastic rental numbers and a growing list of return vacationers. Everyone who visits Calecho “can’t wait to come back.”

Designed and Built by Trilogy Partners

At Trilogy Partners, we call ourselves a Residential Design and Build Company. But why Design and Build? Why would we want to do both? Aren’t they two completely different things? Not in our minds. And we believe by pulling all aspects of a project under one roof, we bring added benefit to each and every project. Having Design and Build the responsibility of one company brings a consistency and coordination to a project that is seldom possible when you involve separate entities to plan, design, Build, engineer, interior design, and furnish the home. Why is this true? Because all of these entities have different goals which, unfortunately, are sometimes competing goals. For instance, the architect wants to design what the client wants. Often designing a home the client cannot afford to build. Yes, it happens again and again. With Design and Build unified within a single organization, the budget is a significant part of design and budget and design evolve in tandem. The reason for this is obvious. The Design Builder has equal incentive to both design and build the home. At Trilogy, we focus on the entire project. Our sister company Colorado Building Company is focused purely on construction. So if you have already have a design and are looking for a builder, CBC is your answer.

Over the past decade we’ve seen the cost of construction rise steadily until two years ago, when sub contractor labor rates flattened and then began to decline. From a pricing standpoint, this is certainly the best time to build a mountain house in years. What kind of savings are we looking at?  My estimate based on current quotes from subcontractors would be 12-15% although the amount could be higher depending on materials and construction methods employed. In real terms, that’s enough savings to pay to furnish the home, and add a solar array for sustainable energy independence. Bottom line. If you’re thinking of building your dream home, despite what all the economic pessimists might have to say, this industry expert believes the time to begin design is NOW!

They were a tough lot. Some with scruffy beards, one with green hair, all with tattoos. They liked to drink and chain-smoked and it seemed they all rode Harleys. These were the men that had come to erect the timber frame for our first house. They were fearless. Kneeling down they would shoulder 200 pound posts and then stand and walk up a steep ladder then out onto a narrow beam twenty feet in the air. As the snow swirled around them at the peak of the roof they’d chat while smoking cigarettes waiting for the crane to lift the next post to them so they could place it, post and beams, lifted, one by one until the skeleton of the house was revealed. Some mornings the supervisor was hung-over sick, pausing to throw up as he directed the crew. The men would argue as they worked. They were tough men and loud and angry threatening to kill one another. By the end of the day they’d be laughing, talking about women and the beer they’d drink tonight. This went on for a coupe of weeks. When they finally left, the shell of the house was complete. And we would miss their camaraderie and expertise as we forged ahead with the construction, alone, just two brothers building their first house.

Frame Raising

Trilogy Meadowview Rear

It was true what everyone said. We didn’t know what we were doing. The year was 1998. We’d borrowed more than a million dollars. And now we were attempting to build our first house. In December. At 10,000 feet. In below 0 weather. We’d spent a week excavating a big hole in the ground and were due to install the foundation walls in a couple of days. But the Breckenridge building department officials had told us they would not permit us to install the pre-cast foundation walls on top of frozen earth. But how could we keep the ground from freezing. We came up with an idea. We’d put a giant plastic tent over the hole and put propane heaters in the tent. Our vision quickly became reality. The tent was enormous. The size of a house. We were proud. It was warm inside. The ground was not going to freeze. And then, a giant gust of wind came along. And took the tent away. At 2am in the morning. We didn’t sleep that night as we watched our foundation hole grow colder and the dirt grow hard with frost. Our first home… was it going to be a disaster? At this point, it was beginning to look so.

Scent of a Woman Poster

Once upon a time there were two brothers named John and Michael who lived and worked in New York City making movies. For years they lived out their film making passion. But the incredibly long hours and stress built steadily and finally it came time to take a break. So they decided to come to Colorado to be ski bums for a year. The bum lifestyle didn’t last for long. 13 years and many homes later they are the talent behind one of the premier design and build companies in the country. Though they had no formal training in design and building, experience, hard work, and a willingness to think boldly and originally taught them the all lessons they needed to excel. Their creations have been featured in some of the premier magazines in the country including Architectural Digest. So how did they get from making movies to the crest of the world of building and design? If you have an interest in home design and construction, you will find their story priceless, empowering, and entertaining. More coming soon.

Mike and John Rath

2011 marks the 13th year Trilogy Partners has been designing and building homes. Almost as a lark we built our first home, biting off way more than we could chew, working our hearts out and then, miraculously it seemed at the time, selling it the day it was completed. Then came a second home, and more as we began building homes for clients as well as spec homes for sale.  As 2011 begins we look back to that first home. We broke ground in December. Crazy. We had much to learn about building homes. In Breckenridge, at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet, the only reasonable outdoor activity that time of year is something that involves skis. And yet,  here we were digging a hole in the frozen ground so we could place the foundation for a house. John and I stayed in good shape that winter shoveling snow for hours at a time as a home rose from a snowy meadow. Here are photos of Meadowview, which is still occupied by the original purchasers.

Meadowview by Trilogy Partners

The International Builders’ Show (IBS), the largest residential building industry tradeshow in the world, will be held next month from January 12-15^th, 2011 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. For 67 years, the International Builders’ Show, sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), provides the perfect place for suppliers and manufactures to show their products to builders, architects and developers. With over 1,200 exhibitors and around 60,000 in attendance, this year’s International Builders’ Show will be the place to be in the New Year.

For more information please visit the Buildersshow.com.

Our own Michael Rath, founding partner of Trilogy Partners, will be serving on the Summit County Builders Association (SCBA) Board of Directors for 2011. The Summit County Builders Association is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing a bridge between our members in the building industry and the community. SCBA represents the building industry in local government and helps to influence our local legislative agenda. Through the organization we hope to promote sound environmental building practices and community planning.

For more information on the Summit County Builders Association please visit them online at Summitcountybuilders.org.