When Jarret Kinder and Susan Williams set out to build a second home, they wanted a mountain getaway, but not your typical log cabin. The building site would be tucked into 450 wooded acres on South Pittsburg Mountain, and with such a secluded location, it was crucial their home be built right the first time.
The couple’s affinity for mountain biking linked them with Ethan Collier of Collier Construction, who put them in touch with Trey Wheeler of TWH Architects, both local companies known for environmental efficiency. Kinder and Williams expected these companies’ priorities would be in line with their own, and they were not disappointed.
Owners, architect and builder agreed that their primary goals would be energy efficiency, minimal maintenance and building in harmony with the land. “We basically wanted a home that was built well,” Kinder says. Trees around the home site were left intact, though not as many as originally planned by Collier or Wheeler.
Wheeler designed a simultaneously rustic and modern home, as distinct as it would be efficient. “The design and materials far exceeded our expectations because to us it’s so unique to put those materials together,” says Kinder.
A stained and stamped concrete patio, which needs no treating and won’t warp, wraps the house under a single-gabled roof. Core tin is used for porch columns, frames the screen porch on the west side and forms posts for the steel cabling that is a near invisible railing on the back side of the house. Vertical cumaru siding, which naturally resists rot and insect damage, covers some of the façade while hardiboard makes up the rest.