July 01, 2009 Progress Report
Our dancing bears – from local artist and sculptor Bob Stayton—are now anchoring the center of the property, shown here with the Swan residence in the background.
Indulge us, if you will, in a little game of “What If”. Some might call it an unproductive – or even counter-productive – exercise, wondering why we would dwell on things that are already past; what good does it do to think about things that can‘t be changed? To which we would respond: it depends on your motivation for playing the game. Our purpose isn‘t to create a negative attitude, but rather to reinforce a positive one.
For example: What if John Olson had simply sold the Bear Dance property more than three years ago? What if his family meeting had resulted in a consensus that the property should just be sold, letting someone else determine what became of this fantastic piece of real estate? Well, based on some hints we‘ve received since then, there were likely those who intended to squeeze as many residences into this property as possible – a tight-fitting row down the east boundary, and a tight-fitting row down the west boundary – then flip it for a profit. It probably would have been a nice place, and it would have been just like many other projects around the country – nothing to really set it apart.
The Looking Glass flagstone courtyard was
finished, and one of two wrought-iron posts
awaits the gate that will hang from it.
What if there hadn‘t been a Camel Committee meeting back in March of 2007 in Keith Beck‘s office, beginning a trend of meeting two or three times a week for the next two years? What if we had simply taken the plans we had at that point and moved forward with them? Then Bear Dance would have likely regressed into another project that looks like so many others in Northwest Montana, or even the Rocky Mountain northwest: lodge-style, maybe a bit of a western theme. Each residence would have a floor plan slightly different from the others, but the gut feeling when walking through the front door would likely be the same as the others.
The outdoor kitchen area for The Swan is now
complete.
What if there hadn‘t been a mentality – driven constantly from the general contractor – where attention to detail was so important? Where no wall, floor, cabinet, nook, corner, window, texture… or any viewable surface was unimportant? What if all of these had not been viewed rather as opportunities? Then we wouldn‘t have person after person after person taking tours and gawking at these details. We wouldn‘t have individuals who have traveled extensively in Europe coming in and complementing the authenticity of our product. There are even those who aren‘t architectural geeks craning their necks and spinning around to take it all in.
What if craftsmanship hadn‘t been the highest priority from the very start? What if we had let the roofers put on whatever roof they were most comfortable with? What if we had let the masons lay the stone and brick the same way they‘ve been doing everywhere else? What if we had let the plaster, wrought iron, timber work, wood siding, doors and trim take on a look based on each respective tradesman‘s most common experience? Then we wouldn‘t have had each tradesman so excited about being at work each day. We wouldn‘t have had people marveling at the infectious excitement that was always present on the jobsite. We wouldn‘t have had the individual workers wanting to bring their families, friends, cousins, neighbors, congressmen (well, maybe not) to see the project they were so proud to be a part of. We wouldn‘t have had a nationally-renowned photographer, when taking shots for the marketing company, begging to take close-in detail shots instead of wide-angle landscape shots. (Side note: The photographer, in fact, was telling us about other projects where the owners or contractor or magazine had asked for close-up, detail shots, but it was too difficult because the craftsmanship just wasn‘t at a high enough quality to warrant the close-up shots. Not so with Bear Dance.)
The newly-poured driveway around the Swan and Grizzly Den help to tie everything together, making all those ‘what-ifs’ worth it.
As we look back on the month of July and what was accomplished here in finishing stages, it helps to ask these “what if” questions in order to see where we are today. With several areas of Bear Dance getting their final touches, the effect is somewhat like an artist putting the final strokes on a painting. Those final strokes are critically important, but made so only by the meticulous steps leading up to that point. We alluded to this point last month, referring to each step as a critical character-building stage that makes every step previous to that one seem to pale in comparison. But it is precisely those steps – and the decisions that were made to achieve those steps – that make these final stages so effective.
This light fixture was recently installed under
the portico between The Swan and Grizzly Den.
At month‘s end, Steve Redding of Natural Designs Landscaping is tying up the final elements of landscaping around our waterfront buildings, and this contribution is helping to make all the detail- oriented craftsmanship show itself so much better. On the other hand, his landscaping from last month seemed a bit incomplete until the crew from Concreations finished pouring the driveways with their slate borders. Or in a different area, his landscaping has been made more complete by the installation of the flagstone patio for Looking Glass‘ courtyard entry (by Flathead Masonry and Tile). Even then, the finished courtyard is enhanced by the wrought iron posts that will support the handmade gate leading into that courtyard, and until the gate and rails are completed, we can only visualize the potential of this entryway.
The Swan stairwell is finally complete, the finished
wood flooring and iron railing making that final touch
for the tower.
I had a conversation last week with one of our subcontractors about Bear Dance. This particular worker has kept very busy – even in this slow market – on other projects. In a conversation with the general contractor/developer of one of these other projects (a project in a setup similar to Bear Dance – not a single-family home) the subject was raised about sell-ability in this tough market. The general contractor was aware of this particular worker‘s knowledge of so many other projects in the area, and he asked where his project stood in comparison to its competitors (namely, Bear Dance). Unfortunately for the general contractor, he was talking to someone who doesn‘t mince words for the sake of feelings, so he had to hear the tough opinion: “Your project simply isn‘t in the same league as Bear Dance.”
We don‘t bring up that story to brag or pat ourselves on the back. We bring it up in light of the game of “What If”. There certainly are many different ways this project could have been approached; corners could have been cut; decisions could have been made to downgrade the level of detail; we could have repeated design details from unit- to-unit. But would we really have something Bigfork could be as proud of as this? Probably not. Would we be getting the same types of responses from people who see the project? Definitely not.