Luxury log home built from recycled materials

NEDERLAND – When Rob Pudim and Pat Kavouras decided to build a new home in the mountains they wanted it to fit their lifestyle but look like it had been there for 100 years.

Not only did they achieve that goal, but they did it so well that the home captured the interest of a national magazine.

The 4,300-square-foot home, located off Magnolia Road in Nederland, will be featured in the March 2007 issue of Log Homes Illustrated, which will go on sale the first of the year.

Pudim and Kavouras wanted to spend money locally so they hired a local architect and builder. Deborah Davenport, owner of Caribou Ridge Architectural Services in Nederland, designed the home, and Mark Van Everen, owner of Timberline Builders Inc. in Rollinsville, built it.

When the home was finished, Van Everen sent a letter to the magazine to see if it was interested in giving the log home any coverage.

“When builder Mark Van Everen brought the home to our attention, we knew it was the kind of place our readers would enjoy seeing pictures of and reading how the home came to be designed, built, furnished and, most important of all, lived in,´ said Roland Sweet, editor of Log Homes Illustrated. “We customarily wait a year after photographing a home to feature it because of our backlog of projects, but when we saw how wonderfully the pictures of Pat and Rob’s home turned out, we decided it was worthy of moving to the head of the line.”

“We’re excited that the magazine has an interest in profiling the house and the people who live there,” Van Everen said. “It really is an interesting house with great people on a beautiful piece of land.”

The house sits on a 50-acre horse property with views of the Continental Divide. When the owners bought the property there was another house on it, but it did not fit their needs and did not take advantage of the beautiful views the lot provided. According to Pudim, they considered moving the house and renovating it, but it turned out the cost would be about the same to build a completely new home. So they brought their plans to Davenport, and the home-building process began.

The home’s uniqueness is first evident from the outside. To achieve the look of an old house, Van Everen used logs that were not completely stripped of the cambium layer, unlike many modern log homes that have the bark and cambium completely stripped away. To lessen the environmental impact, the trees used were ones that had been killed from beetle infestation or fire.

The interior maintains a rustic feel, but uses modern building techniques to increase its energy efficiency. Solar thermal panels installed on the garage provide hot water for an in-floor heating system as well as the domestic hot-water supply. Van Everen used insulated concrete forms for the basement and crawl space because they provide a higher R-value than the typical foundation. For insulation, he used blown-in cellulose, which is basically recycled paper and provides an R-50 rating, he said. The home also features high-efficiency windows.

Pudim and Kavouras made other decisions that not only saved them money, but were better for the environment as well.

“Our original thought was not necessarily to have everything green, but it turned out to be cheaper,” Pudim said. “We’re glad it turned out that way.”

Rather than demolishing the original home, Pudim and Kavouras deconstructed it, using as many of the materials from the old home as possible. They used the same appliances and made the wood floors and stairs from wood recycled from old home. The railing banisters are rebar. They brought many of the materials they didn’t use, such as the old windows, to ReSource in Boulder where they will be resold as used building materials.

Pudim and Kavouras chose a high-efficiency wood-burning stove rather than a fireplace because it was more energy efficient. Pudim will use the wood he had to cut down around the house for fire mitigation as firewood. The lower-level flooring is slate because it was both inexpensive and acts as a heat sink, collecting heat from the sun to keep the floors warm.

“The homeowners are the ones who are going to be making the difference in making our natural resources last,” Davenport said. “The builders up here are all very interested in that. They are very interested in leaving a legacy here, thinking of the next generation and how we are using our resources.”

For Van Everen, building green just makes sense. He tries to give his clients as many options to do so as possible.

“I think good custom-builders are building green and have been building green for years,” Van Everen said. “In the past five years it has become more mainstream. Instead of having an R-value of 1, you can get R-value of 25 with less work. Why not do it?”

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