So the house was built without a staircase to the cozy space, and I
was left to cast
around for some wood from which to build it. This is not as easy as
it might sound! No one wants to deal with a tyro woodworker who wants
one or two logs, especially if you are looking for something a little
off-beat. I decided that there was no way I would try for the
triangular helix that Esherick did, so I wanted a nice clear log with
some character, and a little twist that would approximate the helix.
Several false starts and even more years later, I found what I wanted
at a yard in Kamas, Utah; about a 7 hour drive from my house in
Boise. It wasn't cheap, either - about $2.00/BF for a green log - the
guy who sold it to me
claimed it was black walnut, but it couldn't be; the heartwood was the
same color as the sapwood, which you can see is quite light. It must
be ash or bay
laurel, or maybe sycamore. At the same yard I got the pinion pine
that was used for the steps.
I had already engaged Jack Christensen for the job. He had an
impressive resume that included a lot of oddball staircases, but none
quite so odd as this. I had a reprint of an article that included a
detail of the joinery of the Esherick staircase which I gave to Jack,
and he followed it faithfully after acquiring some schedua for the
mortice caps. It took a few months to let the wood dry
out, and then a few more to get it done and installed, but finally it
was finished, and Jack finished off the room above it by building a
guard rail out of some applewood he got from an orchard near his house
that was doing some culling. He also redid the bench I built and
added a little folding table (great for a laptop).
Of course, nothing is perfect. My dog refuses to navigate the steps
(my previous one would have done it - she had several canine first
ascents in the Pioneers and Sawtooths) so I can't use the room unless
I have been home for a while and he feels secure by himself. And it
can get hot up there in the summer (though it is delightful in the
winter), and the windows are hard to clean. The elk antler (no elk
were harmed for this; all the antler was from spring scavenging) only
looks like a guard rail - it wouldn't break your fall if you really lost
your balance. All in all, though, I think the combination of the
staircase and the cozy room makes for a very nice feature.