The Outside/Inside House

By Kate Carter
Photos: Lindsay Ramondjack

The owners of this house were living in Minnesota when they decided to return east to be closer to family. They had skied all over New England, but it was Stowe Mountain Resort, as well as Stowe’s community, that captured their hearts. “Skiing brought us here, and skiing kept us here,” the husband said.

The couple had bought a small house in Stowe Hollow, where they came on weekends year-round. When the kids graduated from high school, the parents decided to move to Stowe full-time. But the house they owned was old, dated, and not appropriate for year-round living. They loved the land, with its direct views of the Stowe Pinnacle and the Worcester Range, so they decided the best approach would be to demolish the existing house and start anew.

They consulted with architect Ernie Ruskey of Tektonika Studio Architects. Ruskey showed them many houses, including his own, which Sisler Builders built a decade ago. They loved the look of Ruskey’s house, and that alone convinced them to hire Sisler Builders for their tear-down, new-build project. Ruskey encouraged them to use the contour of the land to get the best Worcester views from many rooms.

Project manager Luke Sisler said they began by demolishing the original structure and getting rid of an in-ground pool. “Deconstruction Works facilitated the teardown and donated anything worth salvaging to Green Mountain Resource,” Sisler said. “Not only did we provide construction materials and fixtures such as toilets and sinks to people in need, but the owners got a tax credit.”

For their new home, the couple’s main desire was to take advantage of Stowe Pinnacle and Worcester Range views. “We wanted higher ceilings, and we chose Zola windows and doors, which use a European tilt/turn open/close system. They had the window style we wanted to take advantage of the views, which change throughout the day. We never get tired of it,” the husband said. The windows were the largest and most energy-efficient Sisler Builders had ever installed, he added.

Also high on their list was energy efficiency. “Because the house is super tight, the geothermal system we installed, along with roof-top solar panels, allow it to be a nearly net-zero building that provides a lot of energy to the grid during the summer,” Sisler said.

Other desires included a home suitable for four dogs. “We went with ‘select’ ash flooring, which features light, cool-toned, or creamy white colors,” Sisler said. It’s a durable, sustainable, and popular alternative to oak, often utilized in modern and Scandinavian-style homes to create a bright, airy feel, and it holds up under heavy use, such as multiple dog roughhousing.

The house’s overall flow was also important. It’s not grandiose, but it accommodates their whole family. It has two floors: the primary suite and a guest suite on the main floor, plus kitchen, dining room, family room, and powder room. On the walk-out basement level, there are two bedrooms and a game room, which Sisler Builders made soundproof so the owner could practice on his golf simulator without bothering anyone else in the house. There is also an oversized two-car garage and a three-season, outdoor room accessed directly from the house via large sliding doors. This three-season room has a kitchen area, cabinets, dining table and chairs, a massive masonry fireplace, and of course, views of the Worcester Range.

For ceilings, they went with engineered white oak timbers over white oak paneling, which carried over to cabinetry and trim. Sisler Builders’ custom woodworking division played a huge role in the project, creating custom cabinetry for kitchen, office, mud room, laundry room, and pantry applications. The vanity in the primary bedroom, a bar in the basement, and stair treads and handrail also came out of Sisler Builders’ woodworking shop.

The most challenging aspect of building this house was timing. They began during the pandemic. “Covid made it way more difficult,” Sisler said. “The geothermal parts took much longer to obtain and were the last link in the construction chain. But everyone worked through it and, in the end, appreciated the process of keeping the owners informed, which had to be done remotely, and we met in person whenever possible. They trusted us as professionals and ended up with a beautiful house.”

The owners concurred. “The Sisler Builders team was great, and it was Luke Sisler’s first time as a project manager,” the husband said. “We could not have asked for a better experience.”