Watson Land Company
Home Page   Homes   Ranches   Land   Horse Properties   Fishing Properties   Commercial   Contact   Our Community   News   Site Map
112 N 3rd ST. Westcliffe CO 81252 ~ 719.783.2803


Designing Your Place in Nature

By David Groshens
Fisher & Associates, Billings Montana
Last fall l was invited to hunt on a property in the mountains of southern Montana. The ranch headquarters were several miles off the pavement, up a narrow valley lined with yellowing aspen and towering ponderosa pine. Arriving at the ranch headquarters, I was startled by the simplicity, timelessness, and beauty of the site.

Generous and efficient in layout and construction, corrals and horse pasture introduced the property. Next in view were barns built into the hillside and made of local stone--barns both handsome and functional. A fenced, irrigated lawn and large willows punctuated a low-slung main log home and two sod-roofed lesser log residences. All three log buildings overlooked a pond shared by resident and northern mallards, largemouth bass and snapping turtles.

The scene formed a unified vision, tied to and complementing the natural setting. All man-made aspects of the setting--from road to pond to residences--appeared to belong as naturally as the natural landscape.

What makes site development like this so long lasting and attractive? You know it when you see it, and you know when it's lacking. But creating it is another matter.

Fortunately, attention to three common themes can help you get there. First, successful properties are planned.

Second, all human interventions take advantage of--but do not attempt to change--the natural surroundings. And, third, all manmade enhancements work with nature, not against it.

Used in this context, nature means all natural elements of the land--physical and otherwiseincluding terrain, temperature, wind, water, vegetation and wildlife. In a master plan, one must consider access, and accessibility, water supply, utilities and infrastructure, views and vistas, microclimate, structures (e.g., homes, barns, fences), and animal life. It is sensitive and creative thought and action in each of these areas that can best ensure success and coherence in site planning.

ACCESS AND ACCESSIBILITY

Roads and driveways should be sited so as to minimize visual impacts and maintenance. For visual appeal, retain natural features (such as vegetation) around pathways, and take care not to let pathways visually complicate or dominate the site. In most cases, avoid straight lines; they are generally not found in nature and won't look natural. Also, take advantage of wind to site paths where they will blow clear of snow, avoiding areas of heavy drifting. Improper access development can cut up pasture and crop land to the detriment of both visual appeal and function, and can lead to weed problems, flooding, and costly, time-consuming maintenance.

WATER SUPPLY

Ground water and surface water on a property present both opportunities and challenges. Water resources (including creeks, rivers, ponds and marshes) should be integrated with great care into a site plan, preserving both water quality and quantity for agricultural, domestic, recreational and animal use. The careful use and preservation of water is central to sustainable development in the arid western landscape.

If natural water resources are part of the view, locate structures far enough away to protect them from flooding and to protect water quality and the appearance of the resource. To minimize silting and maintenance, maintain a buffer of natural vegetation between ornamental landscapes and the water's edge. Also, water resources can be improved to restore or enhance fish habitat in streams and ponds and waterfowl habitat in wetlands.

UTILITIES/INFRASTRUCTURE

The best site plans provide for efficient, cost effective and accessible routes for power, phone lines and other utilities. To minimize the visual impacts of utilities, place them along roadways (if above ground) or under roadways in an underground utility corridor. Such co-placement will also consolidate construction disturbances and activity. Where above- ground placement is necessary, provide visual screening with natural or new plantings, and avoid sky lining or profiling.

The goal is to blend utilities with the site background, avoiding placement where they become a prominent landscape element or dominant first impression. To succeed in this goal, meet on-site with utility companies early in site planning, find win-win solutions for attractive, least cost utility service--decisions made with a full understanding of overall site plans and both utility and owner concerns.

VIEWS AND VISTAS

In development terms, a view is the complete scene within a person's range of vision. The view from a mountain cabin, for example, might be general scenes--tall pines, snow-capped peaks and sky. A vista, on the other hand, is a specific scene with a strong frame seen from a particular vantage point along or through an avenue or opening. Vistas from the same mountain cabin might range from a mountain meadow (looking west from the cabin) to a talus slope (looking north). Views tend to be constant (though multidimensional), whereas vistas change with the location or orientation of the viewer. Details of the scenery are more prominent in vistas.

Views--unfairly so--tend to get most of the attention in site planning. And view obsession leads frequently to site errors. When capturing a view, take care not to do so at the expense of the natural landscape. Siting a house on a property's highest ridge for maximum view might bring short term satisfactions for the owner, while damaging the wild appearance of an entire view shed for neighbors and others.

Ridge-top housing can be unwise for purely selfish reasons, too, creating discomfort due to microclimate extremes (wind and cold) and involve high costs for site development, construction and property maintenance.

For residential development in particular, subtle views and vistas can be more satisfying, enduring, and secure than the dramatic panorama. On almost all properties, regardless of type of use, you'll likely spend more time looking around you (at multiple vistas) than always taking in the larger view. If vistas are man-made or otherwise altered from their natural state, select appropriate vegetation that can be easily managed and maintained.

Finally, in planning both views and vistas, recognize that scenery can change. Subsequent activity on neighboring properties can enhance or damage significantly what you see. To protect what you see for the long haul, start early to build relationships with neighbors and other parties whose planning decisions might affect yours. Views, in particular, are communal resources; communal effort is required to maintain them.

MICROCLIMATE

Microclimate refers to wind, rainfall, snowfall and temperature on a specific site or part of a site. Affected by such factors as land slope, exposure and shelter (e.g., trees, cliffs) , it is highly localized and can change considerably over small distances. Any given piece of land has a general climate in common with surrounding lands, but can have multiple microclimates that are milder or more severe than the general climate.

Site improvements should use the microclimate to best advantage, with structures situated to benefit from winter sunlight and southern exposures, roadways sighted where wind will remove snow, and gardens and water lines situated where they will be protected by deep snow. Locate buildings and plantings so as to create sheltered, energy - conserving spaces for both people and domestic animals. For example, conifers planted on the windward side of outdoor spaces will provide shelter, slow winds and catch snow creating a still-air zone downwind. If altering the natural landscape, consider how such changes will affect microclimate: the loss of a few trees, for example, can make a substantial difference in wind and snow patterns.

STRUCTURES

What makes a particular structure (e.g., residence, corral, fencing, barn ) work or not work on a particular site? In each case, success or failure is due to the ability of the structure to fit the immediate setting--and enhance that setting--in terms of location, scale, color, function, composition, (shape, line, form, architectural detailing), materials, durability and placement relative to other structures and site features.

Under the theory of site conservation, owners are advised to preserve or conserve the most desirable parts of a property by building structures on the least desirable and most disturbed parts, thus preserving desirable vistas and concentrating construction and disturbances into smaller areas. Often, a structure (usually a residence) built on a site's most beautiful plot destroys part of the very beauty it seeks to capture.

In choosing building materials, consider how well materials will age, withstand the weather, and resist fire. In most cases, for durability and appearance, natural exterior building materials, (e.g., stone, wood) weather best and improve with age. Exterior materials in bright colors typically fade. At higher elevations, where the climate and microclimate can be severe, improper materials selection can be costly.

To prevent significant fire damage or total property loss in fire-prone locations, choose fire-resistant construction materials, and manage the vegetation around structures. For guidance in this area including recommendations for sizing and locating fire breaks, selecting building materials, and minimizing fire prone microclimates refer to the Montana Department of State Lands publication "Guidelines for Urban/Wildlands Interface".

Where seismic activity is a factor, also take care that major structures (particularly those housing people and animals) are designed for seismic resistance to prevent serious injury or loss of life.

ANIMAL RESOURCES

In most cases, both domestic and wild animals can enhance a rural property if properly managed. Domestic animals--and to a lesser degree, wild animals--can be a primary tool for managing grasses and of plant material, for example, animals contribute to the succession of desirable plant communities.

In siting structures to protect or house domestic animals, one can use nature to advantage in two ways: to provide natural protection, and to attract wild animals for human viewing. In the first case, the lesson is to construct domestic animal shelter to take advantage of natural shelter, shade and water sources. In the second case, the lesson is to tap visually the symbiotic relationships that often develop between wild and domestic animals and man-made features. For example, site a haystack--a gathering place for pheasants --where you can see it from the house.

Create a vista out of your feeding area for cattle, where turkey and deer will tend to visit. Man-made enhancements--such as trees or ponds-can also be added to a property to create habitat for pheasants, turkeys, songbirds, deer and other wild animals.

From animal life to microclimate, the elements of nature are factors in the success of any master site plan. The master plan must, in every detail, consider not only the intended use of a property and available financial resources, but also how nature can be enhanced and will enhance or affect site plans. Don't work against nature. Nature will win every time.
Watson Land Company ~ 112 N 3rd St. Westcliffe CO 81252 ~ 719.783.2803