| Builder
brings the outside in
By
Jack Kintner
Morrie
De Boer is the first contractor to purchase lots in Charlie
Lewsader’s 29-acre Malibu development
near Point Whitehorn.
A
partnership that De Boer formed with realtor Jim Kaemingk
called Northwest Ideal Construction has purchased the
first four lots in Lewsader’s
101-unit development where prices range from $135,000
to $169,000 per lot, most of which are about 11,000 to
12,000 square feet, larger than the typical 8,000-square-foot
building lot.
“The
average price in the development should be in the ballpark
of about $480,000,” Lewsader said.
According
to De Boer, their first unit is listed at $489,900. This
house is about a month away from completion and, he
says, its design shows how he’s trying to bring
the outdoors inside by taking the inside out, something
he’ll
design into all four structures.
He’s
doing this in several ways. The development itself is
an easy walk to Birch Bay State Park, a few blocks north,
with all its outdoor amenities.
The
four houses he’s
building are on the high southern side of the 29-acre
development and have views of Birch Bay, Birch Point
and the B.C. Coast Mountains in the distance.
Once
houses are built in the lots across the street the
view will be somewhat restricted but the houses will
be sited to keep at least partial views between them.
The
2,450-square-foot house has a great room on the ground
floor that also includes dining, kitchen and entryway
areas.
The
southwest-facing wall opposite the main entry features
two sets of glass doors and a string of windows that
face a conservation easement which rings the development
around the outside edge and passes behind De Boer’s
project houses. The easement takes up several acres
and a trail winds through the middle of it.
Walking
in the front door, visitors are treated to a panoramic
view of the natural vegetation in the buffer that is
so close it almost looks like a nature display.
This
view can’t be blocked. Whatcom County has posted
signs on the trail warning “This
upland buffer and critical area is protected
to provide wildlife habitat and maintain
water quality. Please do not disturb
this valuable resource.”
Kaemingk
said “We’re targeting empty
nesters, like the couple retiring from
Boeing who told us they wanted a place
they could vacation in for a few years
before moving in permanently.”
He
sees the protected area encircling
the property as a kind of community
trust, and hopes that it will be
a draw for people who will be interested
in protecting it.
The
final touch is the outside living room, just outside
a set of double-hung glass doors that frame the view
of the conservation easement.
De
Boer has created an inviting outdoor space defined by
a concrete pad that extends out into the lawn, pillars
clad in cedar, a large porch-type roof overhead and an
outside gas fireplace faced with stone that goes to the
ceiling.
Between
the trees near the house and the roof the area should
be reasonably weatherproof for outside gatherings at
least six months out of the year.
For
more information, go to http://malibubythebay.com |
