Architects bring artistry to high-end homes

Dani Grigg

You know your home is high end if: it includes a private theater that would rival a small Edwards complex; if it boasts a car show room, a spa, an indoor basketball court, an art gallery or a bowling alley; or if the door hinges alone cost $80,000.

The architects and builders who work on high-end custom homes get a double dose of creativity in each project - they exercise their own artistry while bringing to life the imaginative concepts of their clients.

"I love to work with my clients to fulfill their dreams and to create a home that is unique and distinctive to their lifestyle," said Boise architect Trey Hoff. "...There is more of an emotional tie to working with clients whose dream is a custom high-end home no matter the size, and it is emotion that I try to design into every home. "

He said many of today's high-end clients are "smart, educated and know what they want. " Some of them come with specific visions, while others give him the freedom to design a look based on his knowledge of architectural theory and study.

Jeff Williams, founder of Sun Valley's Williams Partners Architects, said today's owners are starting to bring in copies of Dwell magazine or other industry dream books, asking for a similar style.

"A lot of people that want to build high-end custom houses spend a lot of time researching the magazines and books, and also they'll do a fair amount of research on the work going on in the community wherever else they live," he said.

So as clients come wanting to build a vacation home in Idaho, they'll bring flavors from places like San Francisco or Seattle and want to work those into a mountain environment.

High-end residential architects have to be ready to reach outside their tried-and-true playbooks to accommodate that creative brainstorm.

Builders have to be prepared to get creative, as well.

"It's fun. It's stuff like a bowling alley - when we first did one, we were like, 'OK, where do you buy a bowling alley?'" said Steve Martinez, owner of Boise-based Tradewinds Building Co. "You have to go outside the normal realm of construction; it's not stuff you find in the Yellow Pages. "

Martinez, Williams and Hoff each said that while high-end clients go all out on specialty features, they tend to reign in when it comes to green features.

"High-end homes are always designed with energy efficiency in mind with the use of quality wood windows, cutting-edge heating and cooling systems, smart framing techniques and new innovations with insulation and passive solar design, to name a few," Hoff said. "Few clients, however, go totally green and employ all the facets of sustainable design, such as solar panels, rainwater and grey water reclamation systems, wind turbines, tankless water heaters and low-VOC and reclaimed materials. "

Martinez agreed, adding that some features seem green on the surface but don't live up to their initial impression.

He said clients will choose to go with 2-by-6 instead of 2-by-4-inch wall construction, thinking it's more energy efficient, but then they go ahead and put hundreds of energy-leaking windows in.

One home he's working on is using reclaimed walnut floors and recycled stone, but those products are being shipped in from across the country and across the sea, burning fossil fuels along the way.

"People that can actually afford it (environmental design) are not putting it in," he said. "They're spending extra money on a theater room or on random things like door hinges. "

But in the end, designing and building a high-end home comes down to making a client's dream a reality.

"It is the architecture as art and the nature of materials that makes a high-end home," Hoff said.