Olive Series | Polebridge, MT | Finished Home

Finalizing travel plans for our build outside of Polebridge, Montana this July at an epic location 25 miles from the Canadian border, on the west side of Glacier National Park.

We’ll be roughing it — even by our standards — as the town is entirely off the power grid with no modern utilities nearby.  

The nearest gas station is a bumpy hour-long 4×4 ride to the south.  We’d hoped to rent the team a house with fold-out couches and air mattresses but July is a popular month in Glacier and the few rentals nearby were booked.  Instead we’ll be hunkered down, running generators for power in a mountain-side cabin at just over 4,000 feet.

How six large men are going to negotiate a single bathroom, a propane-heated shower and a teeny tiny kitchen is something we’ll try to figure out after prepping for more serious concerns like the black flies, the expected weather (rain, possibly snow), and the densest population of grizzly bears in the contiguous United States.

Here’s where we’re going:

And here’s a density map of grizzlies in Montana:

The lot is a tight fit for our telehandler, with dozens of trees to negotiate and a steep grade down the hillside but our operator has been outstanding and we’ve been able to preserve the trees — even those within 10 feet of the house.

Despite the lack of bear activity, the wilderness has been inspiring. Our team has toured Glacier National Park, blazed down dirt roads every day (not that there’s any pavement here), survived relentless assaults by horseflies, mosquitos, and two persistent dogs trying to snatch food at lunchtime.

These clients are DIY monsters — finding time between marathon work shifts (they’re both doctors) to complete the interior framing, electrical, plumbing, and timber frame staircase.

They also gathered, stacked, and mortared all the stones for the fireplace and exterior pillars. And they reclaimed wood from a 40-year-old family cabin which they milled to build all the cabinets in the home.

Our build in the Montana wilderness is complete. As our team packed out for home we caught a nice email from our clients:

“Lots of progress here. Your crew has been great! We can’t tell you how much we appreciate all of your design ideas, beautiful quality work and superb customer service! The house looks so great! It’s hard to believe how much has changed in the last 2 1/2 weeks! We keep going from window to window looking at the view and then up at the timbers, it is all better than we even imagined. Thanks again!”

It’s not often that you meet a pair of young doctors taking on the challenges of parenthood, building a solar and hydroelectric powered home in the mountains, and commuting to work eighty minutes each way — but we make a habit of working with exceptional people. We’ve said it here before, that our clients inspire us, and that’s exactly how we felt after witnessing life in the North Fork. Hopefully, someday, we can go back and plant another timber frame in the hills. For now though, we’ll just have the memories — and a bunch of photos!