There’s a lot to look forward to with the future of heavy timber construction — and the design and construction industry as a whole, for that matter. As sustainability becomes more of a priority than a luxury for new building developments, companies like ours are leaning hard into the possibilities provided by green materials like cross-laminated timbers and structural insulated panels (or SIPs); and investing in state-of-the-art technologies that allow us to provide faster, more complete solutions that benefit our clients and the planet.
One of the ways we’re pushing the industry forward is by creating more hybrid structures that feature a combination of heavy timber and conventional framing methods, and that includes our new line of modern home kits. By combining our heavy timbers with other building materials, we can highlight the natural beauty and sustainability of your space while cutting costs in less important areas of your home. Moreover, our modern home kits present the perfect opportunity to create a stunning residence that embodies the sleek, minimalistic style of the future while utilizing eco-friendly materials and designs that prioritize energy efficiency.
If you’re interested in designing a beautiful and naturally sustainable home for your property, keep reading below to learn more about our new modern home kits and the various ways we can customize your investment!
The Skyline Modern Home Kit
The Skyline is a striking modern home defined by its use of clean lines and mixed siding materials. We designed this home with a combination of select-grade Douglas fir timbers and parallel chord roof trusses to create an expansive interior that accentuates our premium heavy timbers while providing our clients with total creative freedom inside their space. Our sample floor plan includes three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a two-car garage, and plenty of flexible, recreational space, though you can easily reconfigure this layout to meet your needs. With a modern home kit like the Skyline, the sky is truly the limit to what you can do with your building investment!
The Trillium Modern Home Kit
Our Trillium Modern Home Kit offers the best of both worlds in terms of style and function. With its massive window walls, exposed rafters, and sloped rooflines, this modern home design offers optimal natural light and energy efficiency inside a remarkably beautiful setting. It also provides an abundance of flexible space that you can customize according to your needs and preferences. This floor plan features 3,540 square feet of conditioned living space, including four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a two-car garage, a spacious bonus room, and a magnificent outdoor living space. If you’re seeking an impressive modern home that seamlessly blends our signature heavy timber style with contemporary architecture, our Trillium is the perfect fit for you.
The Timberline Modern Home Kit
Inspired by our popular Cornelius Contemporary Custom Home project, this modern home is a magazine-worthy residential design that offers dozens of possibilities for your space. Floor-to-ceiling windows, oversized heavy timbers, and sloped rooflines take center stage in this structure, making it a stunning modern oasis that’s guaranteed to increase the value of your property. This modern home comes with three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, an open-concept living space, an office, a TV room, and a garage – all of which you can tailor to your desired layout. Although this design is naturally suited to scenic or cliffside properties, our designers can help you modify your Timberline to match your unique site characteristics.
Ready to get started on your modern home project? Give us a call today at (888) 975-2057 or request a quote online here!
Farmhouse homes have long been a staple of American history, with some of the earliest-known farmhouses dating all the way back to the 1700s and 1800s. Though farmhouses first appeared as simple, single-story rural homes for farm workers and their families, this iconic home style has since evolved to encompass all the comforts we associated with a traditional countryside home while boasting modern amenities designed for today’s homeowners.
At DC Structures, we’ve designed our farmhouse home kits to include many of the classic Americana elements that make this home style feel close to its farming roots, like covered porches, gable dormers, and board and batten siding, while offering modern finishes and clean lines that bring these homes into the 21st century. Built with concealed clear-span trusses, these farmhouse home designs feature wide-open interiors with vaulted ceilings that allow you to do anything you wish with virtually any space in your home.
If you’re interested in building a homey yet sophisticated farmhouse home on your property, keep reading below to see why you should consider our Applegate and Juniper pre-engineered farmhouse home kits for your upcoming residential project:
Applegate Farmhouse Home Kit
The Applegate Farmhouse Home Kit is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with tons of natural charm, warmth, and utility. This pre-engineered building model offers 3,123 sq. ft. of conditioned living space that includes an open-concept living, dining, and kitchen space with a walk-in pantry, two bedrooms (including a generous primary bedroom suite), two bathrooms, and a mudroom and laundry on the first floor; and two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a spacious storage room on the second floor.
A 257 sq. ft. covered porch outside the main entrance gives this home a distinct countryside feel, while modern features like Andersen windows and patio doors accentuate the contemporary nature of this design. Clients who choose this model can also utilize an attached 1,121 sq. ft. two-car garage for vehicle and equipment storage or as a personalized workshop space. Our sample floor plans come with open-ended layouts that you can easily tailor to suit your lifestyle needs. We also offer endless modification options that allow you to remove, add, or change any design elements to more closely resemble your vision.
Want to learn more about the Applegate? Click here to view the Applegate kit page for more pricing, materials, and sizing details.
Juniper Farmhouse Home Kit
Our Juniper Farmhouse Home Kit offers a more traditional appearance for your new home, with gable dormers, pitched gable roofs, and covered porches contributing to its timeless appeal. Inside, you’ll find an open-concept living, dining, and kitchen area with a walk-in pantry on the first floor. To the left of the kitchen and dining room are two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a mudroom and laundry area. On the opposite wing, a primary bedroom suite and a spacious 210 sq. ft. study offer the ideal set-up for parents, business owners, and creative professionals.
Upstairs, a loft area with a full bathroom overlooks the great room below. This space can function as an office, gym area, music studio, or anything else you can envision. Unlike the Applegate, our Juniper Farmhouse Kit doesn’t include an attached garage space as part of the standard design and materials package. However, clients can work with our designers to add a garage to their model or create even a separate garage or workshop space on their property.
Want to learn more about the Juniper? Click here to view the Juniper kit page for more pricing, materials, and sizing details.
Interested in owning a farmhouse home like the Applegate or Juniper? Call today at (888) 975-2057 or request a quote here to speak with one of our representatives about your unique vision.
There’s something undeniably special about the look and feel of A-frame cabins. With their dramatically sloped roofs, minimalistic designs, and incredible warmth, these triangular structures offer a unique yet simplistic setting designed to suit just about any purpose. Despite their growing popularity as Airbnb vacation rentals, A-frame cabins can also serve as ideal backyard artist studios, mother-in-law suites, man or lady caves, and single-family residences. With an A-frame cabin design, you can enjoy a nostalgic yet modern structure that offers dozens of possibilities for your interior.
At DC Structures, we’re always looking for ways to innovate our line of pre-engineered building kits, and our brand-new A-frame cabin kits are one of many ways we’re doing so. This alphabetical architectural style doesn’t just provide for a stunning living space with exposed rafters and tongue and groove ceilings; it also makes the perfect building solution for clients in areas that experience heavy snow loads.
We offer two attractive and versatile A-frame cabin kits — the Wallowa and Mazama. Our Wallowa comes in two standard sizes, with the Wallowa 40′ offering a one-bedroom floor plan and the Wallowa 50′ offering a three-bedroom floor plan with a bonus lounge area. Find out more about these unique A-frame cabin designs by reading below!
Wallowa 40′
Our Wallowa 40′ is a beautiful A-frame cabin kit with 1,048 square feet of conditioned living space plus 338 square feet of outdoor deck space. This hybrid cabin design utilizes heavy timber rafters, structural insulated panels, and wall studs to form the structural frame, creating a warm and energy-efficient setting that keeps you safe and cozy in any season. The main level opens to an open-concept living, dining, and kitchen area that accesses a spacious downstairs deck. There’s also a half bathroom, laundry area, and mechanical room.
Upstairs, clients can take advantage of a 314 sq. ft. one-bedroom loft area with a full bathroom, closet, and private deck. With its sloped ceilings, exposed heavy timbers, and tongue and groove ceilings, this unique loft space provides an abundance of rustic charm for your personal retreat.
Wallowa 50′
The Wallowa 50′ is a larger A-frame cabin design that offers 1,607 square feet of conditioned living space and 415 square feet of outdoor deck space. Like the Wallowa 40′, we frame this A-frame cabin design using a combination of heavy timber rafters, structural insulated panels, and wall studs. This hybrid method allows us to create a warm and comfortable living space that will likely save you hundreds on heating bills each year. It also helps us showcase the stunning Douglas fir timbers inside your home while keeping construction costs down.
The Wallowa 50′ boasts three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a bonus lounge area, and an open-concept living space. The downstairs features a spacious living, dining, and kitchen area that accesses a 285 sq. ft. deck. Through the kitchen, you’ll also find two bedrooms with closets. There’s also a full bathroom outside the living room. One floor up, a snug one-bedroom loft with a full bathroom, closet, and lounge area offers a romantic and incredibly charming primary bedroom space. Clients can also utilize a 178 sq. ft. deck outside the master bedroom.
Mazama
If you’re seeking a minimal vacation home, studio, guest suite, or tiny home, consider our Mazama A-Frame Cabin Kit for your project. This A-frame cabin design features a simple equilateral triangle shape that makes it both universally appealing and highly functional. With this studio-sized cabin kit, you can enjoy a 495 sq. ft. floor plan that boasts an open-concept living/sleeping, dining, and kitchen area, a full bathroom, and a utility room. Outside, clients can relax on a 285 sq. ft. deck while taking in gorgeous views of their property.
If you’re interested in investing in a timeless yet highly unique cabin design with indoor and outdoor living areas, exposed heavy timbers, and tons of flexibility and charm, give us a call today at (888) 975-2057 or request a quote here!
Since the onset of the pandemic, it’s safe to say we’ve all experienced our fair share of unprecedented events, from lumber surges to a booming housing market to record-high inflation and, more recently, Elon Musk’s Twitter fiasco. Though some of the notable events of the last few years were trying, to say the least, several other developments signaled a change in everyday life for the better — one of which was the mass moving frenzy that happened in 2020 and 2021.
Driven by historically low mortgage rates and new remote work opportunities, we saw an influx of Americans pack up and move their families from notoriously expensive cities to more affordable suburbs and rural areas across the country. With the requirement to work in-office suddenly gone, many working professionals discovered a newfound sense of freedom in where they could live and what they could afford, marking a much-needed shift in the status quo here in the U.S.
Although we’ve seen the housing market cool in many cities, mortgage rates rise, and some companies double back on their work-from-home stance since that time, there’s still as strong a desire as ever to prioritize happiness, family life, and finances by moving. And while we anticipate fewer cross-country moves in 2023 than those in 2020 and 2021, we predict these up-and-coming cities will see a significant population boom in the new year.
Here’s where we believe people are moving in 2023 and some reasons why you may want to consider following in their footsteps:
1.) Austin, Texas
Austin is one of those cities you hear about constantly, either in the news or from other people. It regularly tops “Best Places to Live in the U.S.” lists and is considered one of the country’s foremost tech hubs, with top companies like Amazon, Google, Oracle, and Tesla calling the subtropical region home. Although Austin can be a relatively expensive area to live in due to its popularity, attractive tech opportunities and rate of development, several affordable cities in and around the metropolis continue to draw mass amounts of people from all over the country. In fact, Rocket Mortgage recently published an article outlining some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., with not one but three Austin exurbs ranking in the top five destinations.
Another significant draw to living in Austin (and Texas in general) is that the state of Texas is one of few known to offer no individual or corporate income tax. That added bit of money in your pocket, combined with plentiful job opportunities and a high quality of life, makes Austin an incredibly desirable city and somewhere we expect to see consistent growth in 2023.
2.) Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina
There’s been talk in the last few years that Raleigh is becoming the premier city for working professionals with kids, and we can absolutely see why. The capital of North Carolina, Raleigh, is a mid-sized Southern city that’s seen exponential growth in the past decade due in part to its bustling tech culture, low cost of living, and family-friendly environment. Money.com, which ranked Raleigh as the fourth-best place to live for 2022, found that home sale prices and overall cost of living were below the average and median of some 1,300 metropolises they reviewed for their list. When you consider its tremendous affordability, as well as the city’s lush green space, diversity, and high median income, it’s no wonder why so many families are flocking to this Southern region to make it their home.
3.) Boise, Idaho
There’s a lot of charm to Boise, Idaho, which long-time residents know to be both a blessing and a curse. Between 2010 and 2018, Boise saw a population increase of 18.2% and was, at one point, considered the fastest-growing city in America. Though Boise still enjoys a high rate of tourism and new home sales today, growth has slowed considerably compared to the previous decade. Even so, we’re keeping Boise at the top of our cities to watch list for several reasons — many of which have to do with its breathtaking surroundings, vibrant nightlife, and abundance of exciting outdoor activities.
Something else that indicates Boise will see a resurgence of growth in the future is that it’s projected to be among the fastest-growing U.S. cities by 2060, according to The Center Square, with the projected population ranking 16th highest of 384 metropolitan areas studied. This report tracks with others, including the one we mentioned earlier through Rocket Mortgage that puts three neighboring Boise suburbs in a list of 15 fastest-growing U.S. cities. While some locals may be less than thrilled with the recent population boom, many residents can look forward to several positives with Boise’s incoming growth, including an anticipated 89.2% increase in employment and a considerable increase in personal income per capita by 2060.
4.) Spokane, Washington
Unless you’ve lived on the West Coast or know someone who attended Gonzaga University, you’ve probably never heard of Spokane, Washington. This unassuming city in eastern Washington state is about a 30-minute drive from the Idaho border and boasts a small but thriving downtown along its famed riverfront. Despite being the second-largest city in Washington state, Spokane offers a small-town atmosphere in an otherwise burgeoning metropolitan area. This uniquely calm yet vibrant setting provides the perfect set-up for families, creatives, and individuals, making it a must-see destination for those thinking of moving in 2023.
5.) Reno, Nevada
Otherwise known as “The Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno has long been associated with casinos, bright neon lights, and booming tourism, but there’s more than meets the eye with this colorful city. Located near the California border, Reno backs up to the Sierra Nevada range, providing a host of scenic hikes and biking opportunities for residents. Not only that, but Reno is only about an hour’s drive from Lake Tahoe, making it an attractive prospect for outdoorsy individuals and families. Despite its reputation as a gambling destination, it’s much easier for Reno residents to avoid the casino scene than in its southern counterpart Las Vegas, and there’s plenty more to do outside of being downtown.
A few other bonuses that make Reno a city to watch for 2023 is that Nevada, like Texas, has no individual or corporate income tax. U.S. News also ranked it #9 for “Best Places to Live for Quality of Life” and #23 in fastest-growing places from a list of 150 metro areas in the U.S. Additionally, Reno boasts several reputable K-12 schools and plays host to the University of Reno-Nevada. With these factors in mind, as well as its prime location and relatively affordable cost of living, it makes perfect sense why Reno is shaping up to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.
6.) Bozeman, Montana
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive spike in people moving to or visiting Montana — namely celebrities and California residents. While Montana is a far cry from the Golden State, it’s easy to see why big names would flock to this stunningly beautiful northern state. With its abundance of natural beauty, world-class outdoor activities, and considerably low property taxes, Montana offers the ideal homestead for those seeking wide open spaces and gorgeous green surroundings teeming with wildlife. And although Bozeman is one of the largest cities in Montana, this southwestern city strikes a unique balance between being both a thriving cultural hub and a laidback town with something for everyone.
7.) Denver, Colorado
Like Austin, Denver has experienced a significant population boom in the last decade due in part to its growing reputation as a premier tech hub. Nestled at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Denver is home to more than 3 million people, with experts predicting this number will increase to 3.6 million by 2030. Over the last ten years, the capital city has become one of the best-performing real estate markets in the country, both in the commercial and residential sectors. Because of its astonishing popularity, one pitfall of the city is that the cost of living here is far more expensive than in most metro areas in the U.S., with Denver regularly ranking in the top ten lists of most expensive cities. Even so, there are plenty of understandable reasons for this, including Denver’s arid climate (locals enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine every year), thriving economy, beyond-beautiful surroundings, and incredible arts and culture scene.
8.) Missoula, Montana
Otherwise known as the “Garden City,” Missoula is one of those Western outdoorsy towns that actually lives up to its name. Located in the heart of the northern Rockies, Missoula offers the lush, sprawling green space most of us dream of in our own cities. In addition to its incredible beauty and abundance of outdoor activities, something that sets this town apart from others in the West is its strong sense of community and shared love of nature. The residents deeply care about their surroundings and preserving the region’s beauty together.
Compared to Bozeman, Missoula also offers a far more affordable cost of living, with the median home price being a little over $430,000. Although this Western town boasts a small population of about 75,000 people, there’s no shortage of things to do and see here, including world-class fishing, kayaking, hiking, and plenty more.
9.) Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is widely regarded as one of the top tourist destinations in the nation, and it’s not hard to see why once you’ve been there. With its magnificent 30-mile lake, sandy beaches, and widespread forest greenery, Coeur d’Alene offers almost everything you could ask for in a dream vacation getaway. Though it’s best known for its booming tourism industry, this northern Idaho city is also on track to become one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. According to The Center Square, Coeur d’Alene saw a 16.5% population growth in the last five years, making it the fourteenth fastest-growing city among some 381 U.S. metro areas studied and another place we expect to see a population boom in 2023.
10.) Provo, Utah
Last but not least on our list is Provo, Utah — an otherwise quiet but charming college town outside Salt Lake City that plays home to Brigham Young University. Like many other metro areas in Utah, Provo is known for its gorgeous natural surroundings, family-friendly environment, and exciting outdoor activities. Although there’s talk of Salt Lake City becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., we anticipate that Provo will also see a wave of newcomers in the future, especially with more families seeking an affordable yet safe place to raise their kids. Additionally, Provo boasts a high employment rate, with tons of manufacturing, communication, technology, and research jobs regularly available, making it a hot spot for working professionals looking for a change of pace.
Final Thoughts
Wherever you plan to move, whether it’s a city on our list or somewhere entirely different, consider what must-haves you’re looking for in your next home. If a peaceful, nature-based setting is top of your list, a city like Missoula or Provo may be the right fit for you and your family. However, if you’re looking for new tech opportunities and a fast-paced environment, you could find that places like Austin and Denver match your energy and personality a bit more.
Regardless, our team is always here to help you get started whenever you feel ready to move into your dream home. If you’re interested in finding out more about our process and what we can do for you, call us today at (888) 975-2057 or request a quote online.
