I designed all the chalets, built them as spec houses, then sold them after they were completed. Mountain chalet-houses were a whole new concept at the time we started Mirrormont. I got the idea after considering developing a ski resort at the base of Steven’s Pass in Scenic, and had these chalets designed by some architect friends. I built one in the Kirkland area; it sold right away and there was so much interest in it that I went ahead and designed some more chalets that were 1200 sq. ft. or larger. The first chalet that I built in Mirrormont was the House That Channel 7 Built.
The main disadvantage of that style was the expense of the roof, as it was very steep and difficult to shake. Roofers charged quite a bit extra for that type of roof. I devised a method of building the first half of the roof of the A-frame on the ground and then tilting it up and building the second half on the ground underneath it. When both halves were completed, they were raised up with a crane and then lowered back together and joined at the peak. This went very rapidly and saved a lot of money. This worked well with the smaller houses and we built quite a few in Mirrormont. The Channel 7 house was a chalet style, but wasn’t one we tilted up. – Rod Loveless, developer of Mirrormont