Contemporary home rises among Ozarks hills

A custom home project unlike any other is taking shape on a windblown Webster County hilltop.

A bold contemporary structure of steel, glass and wood that overlooks wooded hills and a farm valley, it is being designed by architect Alan Purvis and built by A.G. Paul, of Paul Construction Company.

As Purvis describes it, this particular project "sort of teeters between Walden Pond and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner' ... In the middle is the house."

The basic structure

The framework is custom-manufactured structural steel tubing 42,000 pounds of it for the house and adjacent garage, Purvis said.

Around 40,000 pounds of Douglas fir timbers, specially ordered from the Marine Lumber Co. in Seattle, Wash., make up the beams and decking of the sloping roof, which is being crafted by Daybreak Framing of Springfield.

The front of the home, on the south side, "is all low-E' insulated glass, really a commercial window wall," Purvis said.

The window wall is 16 feet tall, floor to ceiling, across the expanse of the house with the exception of the two bathrooms, about 1,800 square feet of glass in all, he added.

The house is not large 2,200 square feet not including 800 to 900 square feet of decks, two bridges and a 900-square-foot garage but "the owner would rather make a nice small house than a big vanilla' house," Purvis said.

"He's really put an emphasis on quality over quantity," he added.

A native of Branson, Purvis was part of a three-member team that designed the AIA Honor Award-winning Ledge House of northern Maryland and the House in the Endless Mountains in Pennsylvania. He worked on both projects while with the firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.

He is being assisted on the Webster County project by graduate architect Reggie Stump.

Paul, a home builder since 1973, has built homes in the Timberbrook, Fox Grape, Diamond Park and National Place subdivisions.

Braving the elements

There are numerous design challenges related to the hilltop site. Besides stormwater runoff, sun, wind and storm factors had to be calculated into the mix by engineer Dan Packard, who ran all the structural calculations on the house, Purvis said.

Hovering above the ground on its steel frame, supported by 78 concrete piers sunk 7feet into the ground, soil erosion from runoff will not be a problem, he said.

A canopy extends 13 feet from the glass-fronted home, providing protection from the sun.

"We used a computer to check the sun angle (at the location) throughout the year," Purvis said.

The canopy will be corrugated steel, a choice inspired by the corrugated barn roofs in the area.

The canopy eliminates the need for heavy-duty treated glass that might distort the view.

Then there's the wind: strong or weak, it never stops blowing.

"The biggest concern on this project was the wind load. Dan (Packard) was good about working that out while keeping the integrity of the design,"

To prevent lightning damage, the steel-frame structure will feature 10 air terminals, aka lightning rods, seven on the house and three on the garage.

Arlo Lightning Protection, owned by Denzil Guthery, is the contractor on this part of the project.

Unconventional features

Asked to elaborate on the specific challenges of the home for him as a builder, Paul said, "Every phase of it. There's nothing conventional about it."

For example:

The whole house uses low-voltage lighting.

"If you want really good, crisp, high-quality light, you use low voltage," Purvis said.

Harry Cooper Supply is providing the light fixtures and Dave Steinert, of Steinert Electric, is installing them 160 small, low-voltage cylinders from California of a type typically used to illuminate landscaping.

These will be set between the roof beams and powered by 24 12-volt transformers.

The house has two heating systems, Paul said, a Wirsbo radiant floor heating system being installed by Bob Rohr, of Maxrohr of Rogersville, and an air-to-air heat pump with a 90 percent furnace backup. The air-conditioning system was engineered by Pat Crocker, of Crocker Consulting Engineers.

All the casework cabinets, cupboards, closets, etc. will be free-standing, custom-built furnishings.

The heating and cooling system will include exposed, decorative spiral ductwork. The chimneys for the dual fireplace will be stainless steel stack.

The doors to the house will be mahogany, set in a mahogany window wall made by Lamar Jamerson of Jamerson Millworks.

Elements that extend beyond the framework at the study, hearth area and laundry area will be covered in lead-coated copper sheathing.

All plumbing fixtures and other metal accents in the home will be brushed rather than polished, and Southern Materials will supply the plumbing.

An exercise in patience

Deliberation is a key element to the success of the project, Purvis said.

The owner, builder and architect started talking about the home in December 1998 and the first concrete pier was placed in July 1999, Purvis said.

Every element is documented in architectural drawings. Nothing is left to chance.

"This project is really simplified on my part by the well-drawn drawings," Paul said. On a lot of projects, "they give you a general idea and turn you loose." On this project, "we don't have to wing it."

The plans are constantly reviewed with each step toward completion, and revisions are reactive to the work.

"You analyze what's been done any given week and get together with the builder and owner and decide what you're going to do (the next) week," Purvis said.

And if an issue arises, "we don't jump to a decision. We think about it a few days or a week."

The project is now moving along rapidly. There is no a formal completion date, but "we're going to shoot for as soon as possible," Paul said.