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Porsche-driving, high-tech legal consultant to sell Highland hideaway: it's on 10-acres and has a drive thru garage |
There are two dirty little secrets about high-end residential homes that seldom get talked about.
The first is that truly custom homes are a rarity these days; most are nothing more than blown up versions of tract homes with a few upgrades like granite and travertine floors.
Yet you don't hear this, very few people are calling it like it is and "everyone" now has a "custom" home. The reason for this is partially associated with the enourmous costs of hiring a great architect...these guys are not friendly to the pocketbook.
It is also important to point out that if a builder can just reuse a set of plans and avoid the architect then his profit margin has just increased exponentially.
The second secret is that the real high end homes, like the one's you see on TV or those little spots in Beverly Hills for a cool $45 million, those are built by commercial contractors, not residential home builders.
Why?
Because of the scale, quality, cost, and experience with the custom work being done is more in line with a commercial building than a residential home.
Real custom homes are the brainchild of the homeowner and architect's imagination. They are unique and not replicated. This is one of those homes.
Here the sellers teamed up with long-time and well respected local architect Gordon Longwell to produce one of the most tasteful and truly livable custom homes in the area.
If you mention Gordon's name anywhere within 70 miles of the Coeur d'Alene area you'll hear great things. Everyone knows his caliber of skill and commitment to creating a reality out of a set of plans.
View looking toward the city and river
Stepping through the front door immediately gives you that "wow" effect.
Your eye goes straight through the open main room and out to the river view below.
The seller is a peculiar fellow, one of those guys who does everything to the max.
He wouldn't even let the architect use a residential builder, he brought in Ginno Construction a commercial contractor from neighboring Spokane, Washington.
These are the guys working with Gozzer Ranch (a multi-hundred-million dollar project) as well as local banks, churches, and even governmental buildings. Kitchen
Everything is tastefully over-engineered in this home. For example, what other homes have you seen that have.
→ A winch to pull up the firewood
→ An air system that constantly recirculates and freshens the air with separate air ducts controlled by a computer system
→ 220v outlets in all 4 corners of the shop complete with air hoses
→ A full size 60,000 watt propane generator that auto-switches within 30 seconds of a power outage
→ UPS (surge protected) wiring throughout the home for use with expensive computers and electronics
→ Warm and comfy radiant heat in the master bathroom
Living room
→ A full RV hookup with 50 amp service and a 13 foot clearance
→ 2 septic systems, one for the shop and one for the house.
→ A shockingly effective "Invisible Dog Fence" to keep fido from bothering the local elk population.
→ Incredible forethought in design and contemporary style. Like the way you can open a series of upper windows and create a draft in the home to cool it without the AC in the summer.
→ An entire T-1 line for the Internet connection. The office itself is actually a fully functional computer server.
→ A commercial phone system with every sort of connection and option you might want, faxes, voicemails, forwarding, you name it.
Office area
→ An office that would make most "at home workers" get all hot and bothered.
→ A vortex fireplace which is HUGELY efficient while producing virtually zero ash
→ Speakers in every room and outside, all controlled with separate volumes
→ Custom bronze water features outside the front door that could even double as planter boxes if you would like (the seller had grow lights installed)
→ French style drains in the shop and garage that keep the snow and muddy water from melting and messing up your garage
Entry way
→ No less than three locations that you could wash your car indoors, complete with hot water, and one even has a power washer...of course this has hot water as well
→ Radiant propane powered heaters in both the garage and the 50x50 shop. Hint, these heat "things" rather than the air, this way they're far more efficient and much more enjoyable
→ Even the color in the concrete near the entry way was mixed into the entire batch, this means it won't "rub off" like most
→ Easy to clean tile on the main floor made even more robust by epoxy grout rather than the generic stuff they usually put in
→ Recirculating hot water in the whole house so you've always got hot water right when you turn on the faucet
View looking Northwest
→ Nearly everything that is metal is covered with industrial powder coating keeping it super clean and as maintenance free as possible.
→ The kitchen counters are even made out of Caesar stone, not your generic granite. Caesar stone is even harder and requires zero maintenance
And the best thing about all these features is that they were built right into the house. They don't look like an add-on or upgrade, it's just perfect from the get-go and if they're not pointed out to you they disappear completely.
So that's a brief list of 1/3rd of the unique features of this home, let's take a look a bit deeper inside.
Master bedroom with french doors out to the deck
The home's floorplan is also very custom, the shape is almost like a sea shell which fans out from the front door to the main living areas.
The ceilings slope upward gradually and dramatically impact the appearance and interior volume of the home.
Clearly the architect and homeowner shared the same vision of how to capitalize on the enormous views.
Positioned just 5 degrees off true north this home gently arcs around its focal point and benefits from both the early eastern morning sun and incredible western facing sunsets.
With the array of windows here you'll never want for more light.
Guest bedroom with splitable design and main and back deck access.
On the main floor you have all of your basic day to day living needs. The master bedroom, kitchen, living room, guest bedroom, guest bathroom, and laundry.
The home is 4,192 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. All situated on 10.5 private acres just a few minutes out of town.
Downstairs is largely made up of the office which fans out with full size windows all looking out to the prairie and river below.
Men like shops, and this shop takes it to a whole different level. Here you have 2,500 square feet (50x50) with huge roll up doors and plenty of room for all the projects.
A shop is a big bonus for the woman of the house too, finally you can have all of that crap and bulky stuff out of sight and out of mind.
All the equipment is negotiable, a full size car lift, air compressors, computer systems and anything else you might need or want.
Heck, the seller even measured the wind direction and placed the shop on axis so you can get cross breeze in the summer with the doors open.
No worries about heat or humidity the gable fans are automatically controlled. There is also a nice little bathroom and computer area in the shop. This is super handy when working on cars or projects and you need to order a few parts of just make a couple phone calls.
This unique home is not justified by these photos or this description, if you are looking for something special and this piques your interest on ANY level then you need to see it in person.
The seller is represented by Bryan Short of Century 21
208-691-5245 or toll free right to my cell at 877-305-7646
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