“Why do you have a dragon on your roof?” The dragon, I think, is becoming iconic. Most people love it, a few people fear it, and one person really thought I should remove it! Here’s the story behind the dragon, and how it became a design element throughout the chateau. The house was framed, roofed […]

“Where did you get all of these antiques?” The antiques you see in the main areas throughout the Chateau de Lis are actual European antiques, some from the 15th and 16th centuries. If you look closely, for instance, at the large oak hutch in the main kitchen, full of vintage and antique white dishes, with […]

“Why did you build this place?” Sometimes when people visit the Chateau de Lis they hardly have the words to form the question. They don’t want to be rude, but they just have to know. Let me assure you, I often ask myself the same question: Why? The “why” goes back quite a few […]

“The stone work is amazing! How did you know how to do all of this?” It is, isn’t it!?? Our first hire for finishes were stone masons out of Montana who were looking to do their last job and then retire to watch the elk meander through their front yard in their secluded mountain home. […]

Since opening our doors about a year ago, word has started to get around about the Chateau de Lis (pronounced “Lee”). I’ve given a lot of tours – even to a group of adorable random teenagers who had the courage to knock on my door one afternoon and ask to look around. (Please don’t tell […]

In all honesty, trying to describe what took place over the next 7-8 years would require a book deal. It’s every hard-luck story you’ve ever heard about contractors, lawsuits, and getting suckered. We lived it. I’m not going to elaborate. This was our first homebuilding experience, and we suffered for it, although I’m not sure […]

Many years ago – 17, to be exact – there was no Chateau de Lis. It was 133 acres of raw land, with a little three-bedroom, 1960’s rambler on one of the 9-acre parcels, a rotting farmhouse from the early 1900’s hiding behind an enormous apple tree and a grove of aspens, and the remains […]

Looks like I’m getting started, it’s been awhile coming. Every time I do a tour there are so many questions about the venue: when it was built, how we made it look 300 years old, how did we think of all the details you see in every inch of this place, where did we find […]