Where has the year gone? 2016 has been a busy and exciting year for the A Team. We had the pleasure of building homes for clients in the United States, across Western Canada and two log cabins in Italy. We traveled some beautiful countryside, completed some stunning projects and met some great people along the way.
We thought we’d share a quick roundup of some of our highlighted projects from 2016.
In addition to our own projects we also partnered with a couple of larger development firms in B.C. It was great to work with these companies installing some wood elements where traditionally steel is used.
Saanich
Recently featured in Modern Home Victoria, this large diameter cedar post and beam house is beautiful inside and out. This 2,185 square ft. post and beam home has two very special flared posts going from floor to ceiling in the centre of the home, with a little wood burning fireplace set between. The main floor of this house maintains a nice open feeling with 18’ vaulted ceilings down the center and huge windows taking in the view.
Our clients couldn’t be happier with the home and love all the open space to entertain and spend time with family.
Timber Frame in Mission
We had the privilege of building this 3,300 square ft. custom timber frame home about 10 minutes from our shop. Our clients came to us in early spring with a scale wood model of the large trusses to be found inside the great room, we had them engineered and proceeded to hand cut all the beautiful Douglas Fir beams that can be found through the home.
Our clients couldn’t be happier with the results.
Arizona
In September, we had the privilege of building a beautiful post and beam log home near Eagar, Arizona. Our clients choose to build in the mountains about 3 hours east of Phoenix where they can escape the summer heat and enjoy the local horse facilities and endless trails. The cabin is 2,000 square ft. on 2 floors plus a full basement. Designed to enjoy the outdoors year around, there’s a large covered deck area out back and a semi-attached garage. With 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, the large cabin can suite most families’ needs.
They are still finalizing a few of the things through the cabin and we can’t wait to see the finished pictures in 2017.
Blackberry Kitchen
The Blackberry Kitchen, also known as the Norma Kenny House, was originally built by Artisan’s co-founder Rob Littler in 1986. The project was initiated by the Continuing Ed faculty at the College of the Fraser Valley where Rob led a class of 12 local builders and successfully built the house in one of Missions largest parks, Heritage Park. The current tenants have since transformed the home into a beautiful rustic restaurant, The Blackberry Café. They decided they needed more room and a larger kitchen, so after 30 years, Artisan returned to the project and helped remove the entire loft structure to expose the huge vaulted ceilings while using re-claimed logs from the loft as new posts throughout the main floor and a custom bar top.
It was a fun project to work on knowing that two generations of the Artisan family have worked on the home. If you are ever in the area it’s a must to stop by this restaurant.
Vancouver Island
On Vancouver Island we built anther log cabin, Bowser Cabin. This 24′ x 24′ cabin is small by some standards but designed very well to maximize the living space. It was designed to have a warm, cozy and inviting feel as the couple that is moving into it next year will be retiring and wanted a home that was relaxing.
Located near the ocean on Vancouver Island, the cabin was built with Yellow Cedar due to its amazing natural characteristics that make it very resistant to decay and weathering. They also choose hardy plank siding and glass panel railings for low exterior maintenance.
Rivard Family Home
The Rivard family has moved into their large custom Post and Beam home in Northern Alberta. Its been a labor of love and they’re thrilled to be finally enjoying their dream home.
This home has been one of our most popular styles due to the large cedar flared wood we used in the design. You will likely be seeing more of this home in the future.
Italian Log Cabins
We also had the pleasure of heading back to Italy to work with our clients from a few years ago.
Following the build of their log home in Italy in 2012 we returned to help our same clients build two cabins that will be opened as a bed and breakfast in spring of 2017. We supplied and built 2 very unique elevated log cabins in the Piedmont area of Italy.
Theses cabins are built 16′ off the ground with an amazing set of circular log stairs to access them. The views are spectacular and will be thoroughly enjoyed by many lucky visitors in the years to come.
Timber Frame Entry for Peninsula Seniors Center
We were hired by Kasper Developments to engineer and build two large timber frame entrances for a recent project in White Rock. These massive Douglas Fir Beams average 10” x 16”.
It was a great project to work on with Kasper Developments and hope to work with them more in the future.
Log Shelters for Playground
Cressey Development hired us to build 4 custom log shelters for an outdoor natural play area for a daycare in Richmond B.C. The playground is located on the 4th floor of a building right in the city.
We enjoyed this project as many of the children have never played on real logs and wood before.
Every project is unique and special to us. The people and the families that we meet along the way make every home memorable. We are very fortunate to be invited into the homes of our clients and made part of their family as we build them their dream home. It is a huge pleasure and honour.
Thank you to all of our clients past and present and we look forward to an even better 2017!
If you or someone you know is interested in building a custom log home, cabin or timber frame please visit our Log Home 101 section which can help answer some of the common questions you might have when it comes to building. As always, you can contact us and we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.