C O V E R S T O RY p r o j e c t sh owc a s e
Friendly triumph
Government regulation every step of the way created challenges and opportunities for the team of friends that designed and built this California home By Maureen Alley, contributing editor
T Ç The home's beauty isn't lost at night, as seen here where guests can relax outdoors while overlooking the lake. 10 S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2 r e si d e n t ia l d e si gn + b u i l d F o r R e si d e n t ia l P r o s . c o m
he fear of added government con- trol pushed roofing contractor Brian Casey to finally build on the plot of land he had owned for years. He recruited two friends — one
architect and one builder — to help him achieve his dream on property that pro- vides outstanding views of Lake Tahoe. "I'm not a home builder. We are roof-
ing contractors and general contractors with roofing projects," Casey says. "This is not an easy home. They hauled 122 truckloads of dirt out of here." To handle construction, he enlisted friend and fel- low musician Mike Buffington, owner, Buffington Construction, Tahoe City, Calif. "Mike and I have been longtime friends — playing music since the '90s." To manage the architecture and draw-
ings, Casey turned to his friend Todd Mather's firm, Gary Davis Group. Todd Mather, AIA, is managing partner, and became the architect on Casey's project.
APPROVAL NEEDED
These men are familiar with the many topographical and regulatory challenges common in this area. "We have very strict building requirements here," Casey says. "The people who owned the lot before me were not given rights to build on it because it's so steep. During an appeal period in the 1980s, they fought for one and a half years and finally were given the OK." After a building rights case, Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council Inc. v. Tahoe
PHOTOS: ETHAN ROHLOFF, ETHAN ROHLOFF PHOTOGRAPHY