The Mark and Claire Cheff Residence
We recently facilitated a wall raising for the Cheffs in beautiful Montana. Their site was at the base of the Mission Mountain Wilderness in view of Mt. McDonald where lady bugs by the millions go to mate each year and grizzly bears go to feed on them by the paw fulls.
Mark, a wilderness outfitter and a former smoke jumper turned builder, and Claire, a Community Programs Specialist, have many friends in the region and more than 30 of them showed up to help put up the straw walls. In two days we had nearly all the bales in place and secured for their nearly 2000 sq. ft. contemporary home designed by Mark and Claire.
This was the first time we’ve utilized bales done with an “inline” baling system which differ from traditional bales in several ways. The main difference was that the straws are cut shorter and there is no cut face and folded face that we normally plaster directly on without the need for stucco mesh. However, the bales were very tight and consistent and we felt they will make them a very good bale wall once covered with mesh and lime/clay stucco. We stayed as guests at the beautiful Cheff Guest Ranch and took a small vacation while we were there and got to take a horseback ride up into the mountains to Lake McDonald. It was a beautiful experience from start to finish.
