COUNTRY ELEGANCE

A Whitefish home from Ford Construction blends luxury with rustic charm

BY DAVID REESE/MONTANA LIVING

A strong, cohesive team can do great things in home building.

And for Ford Construction, a cohesive team of a site planner, architect and builder allows for a near-seamless construction process. Starting on the outside and working in, the team begins with landscape architect Bruce Boody, who sites the home to the land.

Then, architect Dewey Millette works from the inside and back out. A well-rounded team of builders from Ford Construction is able to then execute the plan that Boody and Millette have come up with — and that’s what took place when they built this 8,500-square foot home on the outskirts of Whitefish. With views of Big Mountain and looking out over a wide, sweeping meadow, the log home with timber frame accents uses ample windows to capture the surroundings. Hand-hewn plank siding with chinking gives the home a rustic feel that is carried throughout the home, with a tall fireplace and reclaimed oak flooring.

While the home has plenty of volume, detail work throughout the home provides a feeling of intimacy, such as a small loft that overlooks the great room. This area provides a good transition from the public spaces to private spaces such as bedrooms. Millette provided subtle details of arts and crafts in the home, with a flair for the contemporary. Outdoor spaces situated near fireplaces give the family abundant areas to enjoy the long summer days and cool Montana nights. When it comes to building custom homes, Ford Construction has been around just about as long as any Montana builder.

Before Montana’s latest construction boom began in the early 1990s, few “signature homes” were being built. But one builder was already creating unique, “signature” homes: that company was Ford Construction. The company built the well-known and often-publicized “Osprey House” on Flathead Lake, a unique structure with arched walls and curved trusses. “It was an incredible challenge for us,” Len Ford, owner of Ford Construction, says. Designed by Whitefish architect Richard Smith, the home “still looks good and is still very architecturally sound,” Ford says. Ford’s roots go back two generations in the construction business, with his father and grandfather being builders.

Raised in the Texas gulf coast, Ford moved to Montana in 1979 and opened his own business. Montana, he says, “Has been a great place to be in construction.” Ford’s approach to fine homebuilding is to build sanctuaries for families, and they build homes of many calibers, from large remodels to full estates. The company prefers to use what the earth provides in timber, wood, stone and other elements.

Ford uses a core team of his own builders, who are trained and mentored throughout their careers with the company. By using the same employees job after job, “I know how the home is going to come out,” Ford says, “and that means it’s going to be a home of the highest quality.”

On the Web: www.fordconstructioncorp.com