1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
'It was like being hit by lightning" according to the client. Given 113 acres in Alpine Gulch in the Judith Mountains of central Montana, it was a dream come true for them, after searching for years for acreage like this. The land already had a small log cabin on it. Located at the very bottom of the canyon, in a grove of old firs, it was always dark, cold, andclaustrophobic. The clients desired something else--light, sun and expansiveness. A forest fire that burned across part of the land in 1989 exposed just such an opportunity. Sited about 70 feel above the valley floor, on the edge of a limestone ledge, the site has long views up and down the valley, seemingly hanging in space. But, it also has the intimacy of an aspen grove, and a meadow of wildflowers in the other |
|
directions. The cabin had to
do a couple of other things for the clients. It had to relate
to their cultural landscape, as well as the physical one. A third
generation Montanan, and the son of a forester who graduated
from the University of Montana in 1949, he was raised with both
the myth and the reality of the great western forests. The fire
towers that guarded these lands represented a romantic ideal
of life to his family as he grew up. Lookouts were always in
the most inaccessible, most spectacular location. They were a
place where life and relationships were condensed to their essential
elements, where nature overwhelmed and embraced those lives. |