Because they could only afford a small mortgage, the Galvins have done as much work on the house as they could by themselves.
For the first 14 years, they lived in a trailer next to the house. Jim Galvin set up a carpentry shop and taught himself to be a cabinet maker, cutting and installing all the
home's beautifully detailed cherry and oak fittings himself.
"You get a book, you read it and learn how to do things," he said. "Give me a book and I can learn how to do brain surgery."
The finished product has pale concrete walls, high ceilings and rich red Brazilian cherry flooring. There's a massive stone fireplace in the center of the
house, made of the rock blown out of the site during the demolition. The
house's south windows and the skylights in the back of the house fill its 4,163 square feet of space with light. In all, Galvin figures the house cost $300,000 to build, spread out over 24 years.
And, as planned, the house is remarkable energy-efficient. In winter, the concrete walls hold the heat -- the Galvins said they can heat the entire
house with one wood stove. (They installed a 1,000-gallon oil tank as a back-up).
In the summer, the opposite happens. Once the
house cools down, it stays cool. Only a few times a year -- during a prolonged 90-degree heat spell -- have they found it necessary to turn on the
home's small window air-conditioner, for a few hours
"The heat gets absorbed into the concrete in summer," Jim Galvin said.
The Galvins admit it's very nice to walk out of their
house in the summer, and sit on the terrace in front, with the ridge lines of the Housatonic River Valley in the distance. Jim Galvin has built himself a small airstrip in back, that allows him to fly his light sport plane from
home.
But their
house is also decorated with motifs from the Southwest. Arizona beckons.
"We love the house," Kathy Galvin said. "But we hate the winters. We think of the
house now as a 401K for our retirement."