Wildcat Canyon Development Stage:  Nearing completion Bed/Baths:  4 / 3 Square Feet:  4000 Location:  Northern California Project Images The Story This is a large custom home with an attached garage and many architectural features, including "Californias," which are the projecting rooflines at the front of the house. It's a big day when the kit arrives on via tractor trailer(s). The owner will have rented a forklift for the day to unload the bundles and place them on a flat place near the job site. In this large custom home, some components are too big for even a forklift. The foundation is usually complete by the time the kit arrives. Radiant heat tubes in the slab of the lower level (and between the floor joists under the main floor) will provide back-up heat. Waterproofing the exterior of the foundation is a good "sweat-equity" project for the homewoner. The subfloor begins with a triple band around the outside edge to support the first timber. 2x10 joists fill in between the band and girders. The last step of the subfloor is to put down the plywood decking. Meanwhile, a garage slab is poured. This kit includes a "lower level option," with timbers provided for the lower level South wall. In the pictures below the South front, subfloor, and first row of main floor timbers have all been completed. Door frames are provided with the kit. In addition to framing the doors, they provide "stiffeners" and "levelers" for the rising walls. This will be the front door, leading into the atrium. For the owner, this time when the foundation work is complete and the kit is well underway is a time of great satisfaction ! The Wildcat Canyon kit is underway and the double North wall is progressing quickly. Following the kit construction chart, timbers are stacked between the door frames, and the walls take shape. Special self-drilling screws fix each glue-lam timber in place. This design has the stairs to the lower level in the sunspace. The sunspace, or atrium, is the driving force of the home, and will become everyone's favorite room. All timbers are set from the inside of the house. The kit also includes window frames, which also need to be braced. Once the timbers are set all the way to the top of the first floor, the posts and girders that support and frame the second floor are set. The floor beam system is so beautiful. Temporary decking is applied over the floor beam system to proved a work platform for the upper level construction. This rented lift is a huge help when it is time to hoist timbers to the second floor. This Enertia® home has lots of South windows in the entry Atrium. These windows gather solar energy in the winter when the sun is low. At all times of the year they supply natural light to the interior. The atrium, or sunspace, runs the length of the south side of the house. Enertia® homeowners use the atrium for informal dining, growing plants, reading writing, conversation, enjoying the local scenery and other relaxing activities. Wiring an Enertia home is made easier by the mortising and pre-drilling done at the factory. Solid wood rises all the way to the peak of the gable. Heavy timber framing is set by a crane, with some help from the crew. This custom-designed home has many intricate shapes and cuts, adding up to a home with a lot of architectural interest. This home is rich with heavy timber architectural features. Heavy timber roof trusses were ordered from Euclid Timberframing, a company that specializes in timberframing. These decorative trusses are mortise-and-tenon construction, assembled with pegs. The roof trusses are so beautiful that, like most Enertia homeowners, the owners wished that the roof could be left open to the sky. With a crane to do the heavy lifting, the trusses are set in record time. With some planning, the same crane that sets the trusses can set the panels. The trusses and SIPS are in place. At the peak, the height of the attic is about 4'6". Once the Lo-mit reflective coating is painted onto the lower surfaces of the outer roof panels, the attic will be cool, despite the summer heat. The garage roof is built with regular 2x trusses and sheeted with plywood. Coming Soon - Garage Roof, Windows, Interior It's several months later, and the home is finished and happily occupied. Welcome to Wildcat Canyon The roofline of this custom home is characterized by the "Californias" which are the layered projections of the roof that add so much architectural interest to the home. This home has a truely grand entry, with leaded glass doors built and leaded by the homeowners. When the outer doors are open, you can see through the sunspace to the French doors in the South energy wall. When those doors are open, you can see into the Great Room which is the center of the home. Daylight from outside comes through the sunspace into the Great Room. Inside the Great Room, a beautiful staircase built with unused spare timbers shipped with the Enertia® kit, rises to the second floor loft/hallway. The kitchen is a beautiful sculpture of granite, specialty tiles and stainess steel. A major feature of the Great Room is the massive stone firelpace. The Master Bedroom Suite has a vaulted ceiling. The master bath is designed with an interplay of mirrors that increases the visual interest in this luxurious and functional space. On the East end of the home, a guest room opens onto the sunspace. The Sunspace is the "engine" of the home, where solar heated air rises and begins to heat the solid timber energy walls™. A staircase to the lower level is place in the sunspace, which saves floor space in the Great Room area. Upstairs the timber and wrought iron railing borders the loft/hallway entrance to additional bedrooms. There are bedrooms for family and guests upstairs. The lower level is a large unfinished space at this time. Eventually that will change. There is a lot of comfortable outdoor living space around this home - perfect for watching for wildcats and other wildlife. The South side of the Wildcat Canyon home is simply beautiful.