|
Once Lou and Joyce Imbrogno decided they wanted to build a
vacation home, the last thing on their mind was getting it done in
a hurry. They took plenty of time to do it right. It turned out so
well, in fact, that their second home became their primary
residence.
The couple's story began nearly 20 years
ago, when they set a goal of finding a suitable piece of land.
First, it had to be within a two-hour drive of their home in
suburban Connecticut. Second, it had to have access to water.
"We went through a process where we identified all the lakes
within 120 miles of our house, then we narrowed that down to the
lakes that had available property for sale," Lou says.
Their quest turned up two acres in the Hudson
River valley that featured 600 feet of frontage on a small lake.
The Imbrognos bought the land in 1985 but didn't build on it until
1993. In the meantime, they did plenty of research. At first they
wavered between a masonry house, which was low maintenance but too
cold, and a cedar home, which they ultimately decided was not
rustic enough for their woodsy setting.
They
bought a lot of magazines and looked for ideas. In 1992 they
started coming up to the lake more often. About that time, they
met Victor Luccio, a builder representing Alta Log Homes,
which produces
precut log-home packages.
Victor
showed the couple several homes he had built. They liked the
workmanship, but what really got their attention was the fact that
Alta could modify its standard plans to suit the couple's wishes.
"A big concern of ours was designing a house to optimize our
view of the lake," Lou says, "plus we already had a big
house, so we didn't want another one. We wanted something that was
real open, got a lot of sun and felt homey. We're surrounded by
all these woods, so we thought, why not logs?"
The stumbling block was the size of the Eastern
white pine logs. The Imbrognos wanted wide-diameter logs, but the
biggest Alta made was a 5- by-7-inch log. About that time,
however, the company introduced its 7-by-7- inch Frontier log,
which appealed to the Imbrognos.
Alta's
designers were able to accommodate all the Imbrognos' wishes,
making such extensive modifications to the standard plan they
started with that it is safe to call the result a custom design.
The 50-by-28-foot home is built on two levels with a loft for the
master suite. The layout is completely open with no hallways and
the only walls separate the bedrooms and baths.
The
basic configuration is an A frame, but with the A and the roof
turned toward
the lake so the length of the house faces it. The couple added a
second roof peak with a two-story, 14-by- 14-foot sun room at the
other end. To take advantage of the view, they specified windows
that went as low to the floor as they could and as high up the
wall as they could. The crowning triangle windows were
custom-made. The basement level, which opens to the lake, has log
siding that duplicates the look of the full-log walls right down
to the overlapping corners.
The
Imbrognos enjoy almost as much room outdoors as inside. A 12-foot-
wide deck runs along the whole side of the house facing the lake.
Under the long deck is a patio. A front deck is under the peak
over the front entrance. The Imbrognos used cedar decking
"because we didn't want our dogs to be fooling around with
pressure-treated wood."
Lou also
designed a three-story 30-by-30-foot log garage that mimics the
house. One level holds boats, the other cars and the third a hobby
room. A cobblestone driveway leads to the garage and front door of
the house.
Joyce took charge of furnishing the home, using
mainly late- 19th and 20th- century oak antiques and family
heirlooms. "This area is great for antiquing," Lou
notes, "so we've picked up a lot of pieces around here."
One of
his prized finds is a 120-year-old pool table, which is the
cornerstone of the downstairs game room. Having worked for the
Pepsi Cola company for more than 30 years, Lou has amassed quite a
collection of Pepsi memorabilia, which adds an informal touch to
the house.
Lou
handled all the landscaping. Besides plantings, he focused on the
water, building a 14-by-14-foot dock and a flagstone walkway
leading the 50 feet from the house to the water. "The outside
is spectacular," he points out.
He adds
that the house gets a lot of radiant heat off the lake, even in
winter. In the summer, they use air conditioning for about six
weeks.
Reflecting on how well the home turned out, Lou
says the key was proper planning-not just the overall design but
such details as adequate storage.
Having
traveled extensively, Lou and Joyce accumulated many mementos to
display in their home, but even more treasures that need to be
tucked out of the way. By making sure they have a place for
everything, plus allowing for future acquisitions, they don't
worry about running out of room.
Initially Lou and Joyce wanted a house close
enough so they didn't have a hard drive getting there Friday and
coming home Sunday night. "But within five months of us
starting to come up here, I found myself waiting until Monday
morning, then driving straight to work," Lou admits.
"Then we started coming here every weekend."
Shortly after the home was built, Lou was
reassigned to Georgia, so the couple sold their Connecticut home.
Joyce moved to the lake and Lou commuted on weekends. More
recently Lou was transferred overseas, where he works five months
a year, leaving the other seven to spend at the log home working
out of a converted bedroom with a view of the lake.
They plan to keep the same schedule when Lou
retires. "We won't spend the winters up here," he says.
"As warm as it is, we want to play golf."
About the only regret Lou and Joyce have is
that they waited so long after buying the land to build their log
home. "The hold-up was trying to decide
whether we really wanted a second place," Lou recalls.
"But once we built it, we couldn't believe how our personas
changed on the drive up. We became so much more relaxed. We also
always worried that once we moved whether the kids would come
visit. Now we can't keep them.
|
