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Brazilian-grown Lyptus highlights this home
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID J SWIFT
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Just when you think you’ve witnessed the splendor of the Tetons from every conceivable angle, and looked down on the valleys stretching below the range from all possible vantage points … you discover a new one. At least, that’s what most people feel when they first crest “Col du Bob.”
Col du Bob is the low pass on Mahogany Ridge, in the Big Hole Range foothills west of Driggs, lying between the entrance to Bob Pfaltz’s mile-long driveway and the stunning, owner-built house at the end of the graveled road. It’s not exaggerating to say the view takes your breath away: You gaze from high above the verdant valley, the course of the snaking Teton River marked by embracing vegetation and a glisten of sun splash. Beyond, the Teton peaks stand hard against an impossibly azure sky.
“Oh, my God!” one friend exclaimed, seemingly without even knowing he’d said it, when I drove him over the hill for the first time.
Then there’s the house itself: a low-slung, craftsman-style beauty nestl-ed next to a copse of aspen, fir, and mountain mahogany, the hillsides beyond embellished with sagebrush and brilliant explosions of Indian paintbrush and other wildflowers.
Paradoxically, situated as it is in a preserve of native, natural vegetation, the house is built largely of an imported, genetically engineered wood.
“It’s called Lyptus,” says Pfaltz, running his hand across the satin exterior surface of a solid-wood door. “I originally came across it when I was looking at some different hardwood choices while designing my house. My supplier said, ‘Here, try this,’ and he gave me some Lyptus samples to work with. I milled it and stained it, and really liked the way it looked. Even better, the price was reasonable. Then I learned it meets ‘sustainable forest certification’ standards. So, even though I learned about it totally by accident, I like everything about it.
“My clients like it, too,” adds the master door maker; “in fact, they rave about it.”
