Upon entering the home you are encased by massive stone piers and angled cedar columns on either side that support an overhead rail bridge spanning the width of the great room, all framing the spectacular view to the Spanish Peaks Mountain Range in the distance.
A number of exterior decks and patios increase the connectivity of the interior to the exterior and take full advantage of the views that virtually surround this home.
Windows and doors were discussed in depth about type, species and texture and ultimately all wood, wire brushed cedar windows were the final selection to enhance the "elegant ranch" feel. Wood timbers, outriggers and cedar logs work together to create diversity and focal points throughout the exterior elevations. Historic wood planking with sanded chink joints, horizontal siding with exposed vertical studs on the exterior, and metal accents comprise the remainder of the structures skin. Dry stack parkitecture stone bases that gradually decrease in scale as they rise up portray a firm foundation for the home to sit on. Earthy colored and rustic exterior materials were chosen to offer a western lodge like architectural aesthetic. Techniques such as terracing roof lines, stretching horizontal stone patios out and strategically placed landscaping all were used to help tuck the mass into its setting. Throughout the design process, the height of the home to its relationship on the ridge it sits, was recognized the as one of the design challenges. Designed around a number of principles sense of presence, quality of detail, and durability, the monumental home serves as a Montana Legacy home for the family. Daubing mixtures, like chinking, really have no rules, and a wide range of ingenuity has been used in some mixes.Like us on facebook at Designed as a prominent display of Architecture, Elk Ridge Lodge stands firmly upon a ridge high atop the Spanish Peaks Club in Big Sky, Montana. This is the grey mixture similar to cement, which goes over the stuffed gap and creates the weather sealing. And the act of actually shoving your underwear between the gaps, that’s the ancient building tradition known as Chinking. So your underwear, that grass or manure - basically any crazy and creative thing that you can grab to block those gaps - that’s called Chink. In the blog article The Messy History of Chinking, there was an actual photo of someone using a pair of fruit-of-the-looms to block a gap. Remember, Lowes wasn’t around the corner, so it was basically anything they had within carrying distance that they could stuff in the gaps: grass, straw, manure, corn cobs, mud, goat hair, underwear. This is where things got really creative for the original log cabin builders. People use the term chinking to describe the whole process of filling the gaps between the logs in a cabin, but log cabin historians know that it’s a two step process.įirst step: find anything on hand to fill the gap between the logs. Really? ‘Cause I think that’s the cool part - it’s called chinking. He noticed the log cabin being worked on driving in and said, "that looks like an interesting building, too bad it’s under construction right now." Joe tells me that they are here to take some pictures of the waterfalls they’ve heard about. I run into Joe and Mike who’ve come up from Cincinnati
So, today I’m on my way down from the parking lot to visit the site. I’d been driving by this park watching the progress of an old log cabin being rebuilt. I’m at Indian Mound Reserve outside of Cedarville. She did some research and discovered an old tradition of using some pretty creative materials to fill the gaps between the logs. Renee Wilde has been fascinated by a log cabin being rebuilt near her house.