From Palatine to Tamarack: Doug and Cathy Dvorak's Excellent Adventure

By Cheryl Haas

When friends in Vail urged Doug and Cathy Dvorak to consider building in an up-and-coming resort set in the wilds of Idaho, their response was quick and to the point: "Are you crazy?? McCall where??"  "We live in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago," explained Doug. " At first, Tamarack held no interest for me -- but Cathy had lived in Vail and loved the mountains so we decided to check it out." They put their names on the Tamarack mailing list and attended a real estate sales "road show" in Chicago. Before they knew it, they were hooked. "We bought a lot with the thought that we'd build in three to five years," smiled Doug. "It took us all of twelve months from start to finish!"

Doug is a former sales and marketing executive with IBM Global who embarked on a second career as a motivational humorist. He found his niche after completing a course in improvisation at Chicago's famed Second City, and now travels the world using humor to motivate business executives to achieve higher levels of production. His signature character is Dr. Earnest Carpe Diem, whose last name is Latin for "seize the day." ( "I've had people mistake his name as Dr. Carpet the Dead!" laughed Doug.) Cathy keeps everything organized and is the company bookkeeper.

Why did two people who could live anywhere choose Tamarack? "We both love to travel and we've seen a lot of the world," said Doug. "What struck us was the beauty of the place. It has everything for us! From our backyard, we can hop on a mountain bike trail. Look at it!  There are 75- and 100-foot trees -- as opposed to the concrete jungle back home!" His grin is infectious in its straight-ahead happiness. Cathy chimed in: "And everyone is so friendly here. You get a real sense of community."

The sense of community extended to the team that assembled to design and construct the house. The Dvoraks chose Rick and Jenny Winkeller of Perception Construction Management in McCall, as their builders. CTA Architects, which is headquartered in Boise with an office in McCall, provided the architectural design. "Next to sex, money and in-laws, nothing will ruin a marriage faster than building a home," laughed Doug, "but our project was seamless. We wanted one-stop shopping - a synergistic, coordinated effort-- and that's what we got with our team."  Judy Kieffer of Kieffer Design handled the interior decoration and, in addition to architectural design,  CTA provided interior and landscape design. Architects from CTA's Resort Ranch Division included John Powell from McCall, Brad Hoyt from Jackson Hole, Deb Rosa from Bozeman and Ken Richardson from Missoula.

The Dvoraks knew they wanted a design that reflected their desire to "bring the outdoors inside." Said Cathy, "We knew we wanted something more than the typical log home. We wanted to break out of the mold." The house is set on a one- acre lot and while it's in relatively close proximity to the neighboring house, the Dvoraks have a solid sense of privacy because of the way the house was sited. They wanted the materials they used inside to match the natural materials found outside, creating a continuous visual flow from interior to the exterior. The 3800 s.f. home includes three bedrooms and three and a half baths. "We wanted to create a cozy house good for entertaining, but also comfortable to live in." said John.

From the beginning, the team worked within a set budget. During the charettes - the brainstorming sessions in the planning stages - the team would toss around ideas with the Dvoraks and receive practical feedback from Rick, a process which kept the design and construction considerations within the budget parameters.  "Being involved in the design phase is not unusual in my experience,"said Rick, "because I take my budgets to heart and I've found it's beneficial for the owners to get a contractor's input. I believe it falls on the contractor's shoulders to control the cost of the project and bring the best value to it." 
CTA translated the team's ideas into rough drawings which then led to the concept of "bringing the outdoors in." "Doug and Cathy came from the city and wanted to experience the outdoors, "said John. "We designed the house with large windows and patio steps straight off the living room so the patio transitions to the natural grasses and walking paths through the trees- versus the interruption of a manicured lawn. When you're sitting in the living room, you can look out the windows and experience the natural landscape right there." The landscape design was conceived to integrate with the house and flow into the natural landscape.

CTA sited the house for maximum solar gain - important factors during the long Idaho winters. The floor-to-ceiling windows allow warm sunlight into in the living room during the winter months; during the summer, the Dvoraks can open the upper awning windows (so-called because they open like awnings) to create a cross-ventilation with the windows along the opposite wall. Motorized Lutran shades block the afternoon heat. In addition, the roof overhang shades the upper windows while a trellis blocks the sun from the lower windows. Suspended from the roof by a pair of angled steel beams that support evenly spaced beams of Douglas fir, the trellis is a design element that performs a practical function. The form/function concept is one that is repeated throughout the house. A keen eye can also discern the deliberate use of steel in pairs. "Everywhere you see steel, there are two," noted John Powell. The front entry, the trellis, the fireplace, the staircase and the garage roof all carry this theme of pairing - each of which is highly styled and also provides a practical use.

"Rustic Contemporary " was the look that drove the overall design of the house. No where is this more evident than in the living room where architects have artfully combined the juxtaposition of rock and steel. "Steel is a more refined look," said John Powell. "It provides a satisfying counterpoint to the natural materials - the wood and stone palette that we were working with."

The firebox is framed by a custom steel screen crafted by Irene Deely of Woman of Steel in Boise. The elegant fluid lines of its design provide a focal point in the room that harmonizes rather than competes with the view through the windows. The unusual "barn door" hardware features two decorative steel panels that slide along a steel track.

The fireplace rock spans an entire wall from floor to roofline for a subtle but nonetheless dramatic effect in stone. The composition  is dry stack rubble using Castle Rock ledgestone from Kalispell, Montana. "It has a nice color to it," commented John Powell regarding the stone. " It has a certain roughness to it, but because it has nice straight lines, the overall effect is refined." Powell said the team chose a big open firebox to maximize the view of the fire, and they felt it should be set in a large field of stone. They wanted the stone to carry through as a design element in the rest of the house, so they brought the stone around the wall and found a good transition point back to painted surface as the wall continues down the hall to the master bedroom. The fireplace in the master bedroom is also dry stack ledgestone and features a mantle of Colorado limestone. The mantle is one solid piece that weighs 800 pounds!

The stone effect is echoed in another wall that leads up the stairs to the second floor. The wall is startling because it's so rare that one sees stone used so generously on an interior wall that's not part of a fireplace. Powell credits Judy Keiffer with this idea. The wall is punctuated with small, square windows that provide "viewports" - as well as airflow to the awning windows on the opposite wall.

The stairway is a cable rail system. The open space in the design allows the user to "experience the stone wall" as he or she ascends to the second floor.  The maple flooring of the living room is also visible. The treads are Douglas fir timbers which contrast to the clean lines of the steel in the handrail.

Cathy worked with Judy Kieffer to select colors and furnishings. Much of the furniture they chose came from Toad N Willow, the furniture division of CTA located in Montana. The dining table, all of the beds and the dresser in the master bedroom were custom built through Toad N Willow. The dresser was designed to fit into an alcove which shares a wall with the master bath. (The dresser was constructed without a back so that, if needed, there is access to the steam shower on the other side of the wall.) The desk in Doug's office is a solid granite slab mounted on sturdy legs of juniper.

The Dvoraks were conscientious about spending their dollars locally. "In addition to hiring CTA and Perception Construction, we bought from local shops and hired local craftsmen whenever possible," Doug said. "We're proud to say that our ATVs came from Hinson Power Sports, that our mortgage is with J.J. Johnson, that our tile came from Blue Heron, our window shades were installed by Long Valley Solar Shades and that our I-Pod, TV and computer system came from Visionary Systems."

To say that Doug and Cathy are pleased with their decision to build in Idaho is an understatement. "The first morning I woke up here, I knew this was it." Cathy smiled. "I love being able to stand at the kitchen window and see Cascade Reservoir." Sitting in his office, Doug has a direct view of the ski trails on West Mountain for inspiration. "I love it here!" he declared.