A Dream Home in the Woods

September 10, 2015November 25, 2015 Lisa Lynn 10712 Views david sellers, dream home, rental, ski house, Sugarbush, vermont, warren

Made from local timbers, this Dave Sellers design was one man’s dream home and is also available to enthusiastic guests.

Photos by Carolyn Bates

“I’ve skied a lot of other places but there was something about the Mad River Valley and Sugarbush that is just different,” says Jack Reynolds. Reynolds should know, he’s been making the drive from his home in Cambridge, Mass., where he runs an investment firm, to Warren every year since 1987. “The mountain and the valley are just laid back and friendly,” he says. “It’s a community I wanted to be a part of.”

Courtesy Carolyn Bates. Do not reuse. — Architect Dave Sellers designed the bed. Reynold’s antique quilts hang on the walls

In 1987, Reynolds bought a house in Warren. It worked for him and his young family at the time. But as his daughters grew up and he divorced and then remarried, he decided to remodel. That’s when he called his friend the Warren-based architect Dave Sellers.

Yale-trained, Sellers has made the AIA list of 40 Outstanding Architects Under 40, and Architectural Digest’s list of 100 top architects in the world. He’s also a founder of the Madsonian Museum of Industrial Design in Waitsfield and the inventor of the Mad River Rocket sled.

“As we started designing and building, Sellers exceeded my every expectation,” says Reynolds. “Including my budget,” he adds with a laugh. Local craftsmen built the new house using wide tree trunks to form posts. Big windows and skylights provide views through the forest (which Reynolds carefully worked with an arborist to selectively clear). The five bedrooms feature custom furniture, some designed by Sellers, including the master bed made entirely of local wood. Reynolds’ collection of antique quilts covers the walls and his toy collection is on display.

Reynolds still comes up most weekends to ski in the winter and to bike or soar gliders in the fall and summer. But when he’s not using Upper Pines Lodge, he takes rentals.

“I’m very selective,” he says. “I like to think of this as a guest house where I want to welcome people who can appreciate this home like I do.” The weekly rate ranges from $2,900 to $3,500 depending on the season. www.Upperpineslodge.com —L.L.