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June 01, 2008 Progress Report

Well, we’re finished! Look at the picture if you don’t believe us – how do you like it? We decided to pick up the pace a little bit: all the subs started working 92-hour days; we hired 700 immigrant workers; Ron’s wife stayed awake around the clock to feed everyone; and we were nearly run out of town by an angry mob of neighbors. But doesn’t it look great?

Just kidding, folks. You’re actually looking at a computer-generated image of our project. It was accomplished through the work of an innovative young company out of Bozeman – The Fighting 24th – and we hate to always be saying this, but we’re really excited about this latest little development towards our final vision for Bear Dance Village. As a building and design team, we’ve always been able to envision what the final product would be, so in a way, the computer image really wasn’t too big of a surprise to us; but the quality of this imagery is outstanding, and we’re very proud to add The Fighting 24th to the talented groups that are coming together on this project.

Obviously, the above image would likely qualify as the highlight of the progress this past month at Bear Dance Village, but there are plenty of exciting other things to talk about as well. We’ll get to them in a minute; for right now, most people are wanting to know about how in the world that computer image is possible. It’s a multi-step process that involves site visits, a lot of on-site photographs, a few aerial photographs, and a lot of talent. For example, if you

look closely, the center of the driveway/common area has a tall street lamp. That street lamp is an actual light we will have on site; we bought it at the International Builders’ Show in February, then emailed a photograph (shown on right) from the Builders’ Show to The Fighting 24th. They took the photo, somehow re-drew it in their system, changed the perspective, changed the lighting, gave it a shadow, and scaled it perfectly for the image. That’s one of many examples of how they get to a final product.

In some ways, as they say, the picture doesn’t do it justice. That’s because the picture doesn’t show how much character has developed on the close-up level of this project. As good as that picture looks from a big-picture perspective, none of the intricate details are visible, and we actually think that’s a good thing! The picture should get people excited, but when they show up and see it in person, they’ll be completely won over by the design elements

that pop out at you at every area of the project. The chimneys, for example, have been an experience all in themselves. We’ve noticed that in most jobs, a builder will simply build a chimney wherever they had a fireplace inside, put some stone on it, and be done with it. Not so in Bear Dance Village. We’ve made the chimneys a critical design element all their own, especially on the five-plex. The size, shape, and even design of the masonry (brickwork, stone or stucco – or a combination!) have all been considered. We have quite a few brick chimneys, and in each case, the brickwork is an opportunity to make an aesthetic statement. Old World chimneys were a critical part of giving a building its character, and we’re doing the same thing here. They’re adding so much to the character of the five-plex, we’ve even decided to add a couple of extra chimneys where we don’t even have a fireplace! It’s really a fantastic look!

Our framing crew is down to just a few guys, and they’re continuing to go through each unit, adding design details that will support wood paneling, plaster, brick – whatever we can use to make each residence unique from the others. The Gallatin (bridge) was already going to be in a class all its own, with the rooftop patio and mini- kitchen, but now we’ve added a small roof that extends from the stairwell/elevator tower. Part of the roof is now covered, which will give us even more latitude in adding amenities to this rooftop, such as a dining area, bar, more kitchen comforts, and of course, an opportunity to bring in yet another character-defining detail. Stay tuned next month for how that one turns out. We’ve accomplished so many other things this month, thanks to some fantastic weather and the schedule beginning to accommodate more trades. The Boulder Unit was the first residence we started with last summer, and we’re currently at the taping and texturing stage of the sheet rock. Yellowstone is ready for sheet rock at month’s end, and The Swan is nearly ready for insulation. On the opposite end, there is still framing work being done on certain areas of the five-plex. In-between, we have every trade working in their own area. Some days our site resembles something out of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, except here they’re actually able to spread out and work in their own area. In the past month, we’ve hosted twenty-five different subcontractors, sometimes nearly all of them in the same day. GT Builders (framing), Gembala Concrete, Flathead Masonry, Zavala Excavating, Water Well Services, Steve Redding (landscape specialist), Northwestern Energy (natural gas), JK Electric, Touris Plumbing, Riverside Window & Door, Home Technologies (sound and security), Big Sky Mobility (elevator for Gallatin), Skyline Stairs, High Ridge Steel, The Metal Connection (decorative iron and steel work), United Drywall, Fontecilla Plaster and Finishing, CM Quality Insulation, Smith Painting, J&J Carpentry (finish carpenters), Arctic Heat (air-conditioning and ventilation), Rainmaster (roofing contractor), Anderson Masonry (installing fireplaces), Ganz Soda Blasting and Swan River Doors…and guess what? Every single one of them is excited about working on this project. It’s infectious. As the rainy season hits full stride this month, we’ll do our best to work around the weather, but we hope to be making some strides in our landscaping (mostly hardscaping), now that the major construction and heavy equipment portion is mostly behind us. The site will begin to look a little less like new construction, and bit by bit, more like the computer image. Only better. We plan on giving a tour to a few of the local residents and neighbors this coming month as well. As you can imagine, the local excitement is buzzing, and we want to harness that excitement and use it as a springboard to get everyone talking about us in the best way possible. In the same way, we plan on using this excitement in our subcontractors (and in ourselves) as a springboard into a fantastic summer season. Ahead of us is the best three month stretch of any place on earth (summer in Bigfork), and we’re just happy to be where we are.