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I worked mostly commercial projects in Summit County, Colorado From the Construction TradesI've always had a fascination for the mountains and building my home here. My father was a masonry and general contractor and he put me to work the summer after 3rd grade. I spent most of my summers working with him and was running heavy equipment at the age of 10. Through out my youth I dreamed of building my own home in the mountains and learned first hand on the job how to do it. After getting my bachelors degree in business at the University of Colorado, I got a California teaching credential to teach the Union Carpenters Apprentice program. I had a union card for both masons and carpenters in southern California when just having a single card was an accomplishment in itself. I was running commercial masonry projects at the age of 22. Even after getting my degree and moving to Aspen, I stayed with the building trades after college because there weren't any other opportunities in the mountains. Working piece work, I expected to earn twice the normal wage. However, in Summit county that might only last from 1/2 to 2/3 of the year. To make things worse, homes were expensive and the only way I could afford one is to build it myself. Except for my friends helping with the framing, I single-handedly built my first mountain home at 10,000 feet and later went on to build large multistory condo projects.
I built Bridge End condos, Copper Mtn., Colorado Even with these occupational talents, the seasonality and economic vulnerability of the high country made it difficult to earn a steady living during the 70's and 80's. Today the mountain's population has grown and transportation has improved so now there's a greater economic consistency which has reduced the difficulties of the previous high country building cycles.
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