What started out as a summer cabin became our first house. A summer cabin sounds kind of cute, but when you pair a 480 square foot cabin with no driveway with a family of two adults and a rambunctious dog it is not such a good mix.

This house had to have major renovation and additions done before we could move in, and because of the pressure of a mortgage payment and rent on another place, it had to happen quickly. In a three-month whirlwind, we added to the living room and kitchen by extending onto a covered porch and adding new foundation, we added a new mudroom and storage room, gutted the entire house down to the studs and refinished the interior with new wiring, insulation, drywall, pine ceilings, flooring, a log staircase and all new fixtures.

The biggest challenge wasn’t the additions, but the roof! This cabin had a roof supported by 2X4s, but at 9,000 feet altitude, we were getting 350 inches average annual snowfall. The roof had to be brought into code to be able to support a “100 year snowfall” (which happened four years later…). This entailed adding two giant support 16” double LVLs and additional 12” I-beams every 16 inches.

While we were at it, we vaulted all of the ceilings in the house and removed a sleeping loft to add a skylight. We also excavated part of the front yard, brought in 18 tons of river rock to build a retaining wall and driveway, as well as replaced the siding on the entire house and added an outdoor storage building. Lots of work, but all worth it to live the ski bums dream.