History Hones Home-building Skills: Meeting Bob Wolf …
By Janet Day / Photos by Carter Photographics or Courtesy of Bob Wolf

Bob Wolf has watched the competition come and go.

Developers and builders from the Denver area and beyond come into Grand County when housing markets are hot, bringing great vision, elaborate plans and new designs. What they often don’t bring is an understanding of the climate and terrain. Ice dams develop on roofs; snow slides down improperly graded lots into poorly envisioned homes; intense sun fades everything inside huge west-facing windows.

As the owner of Alpine Timbers Construction in Winter Park, Bob Wolf has been building custom homes in Grand County for more than three decades, through good times and bad, gaining new knowledge with each experience.

“You learn how winter, snow, ice and melting all affect houses,” says Wolf, 53. “You try to anticipate the weather effect. I’ve seen a lot of Denver builders up here with no idea what snow can do to their houses. That’s 350 inches of snow a year, on average. Are the angles right for that much snow? Will drainage in the spring be an issue? There can be a lot of problems just because of where we live.” Ultimately, he envisions how the house is going to operate before it is built. Frequently, he will sit down with the owners and architects before the house plans are finished and look at the overall design. “It’s better to anticipate the problem areas first before they become bigger problems,” he adds.

“You need to visualize the operation of the house, not just the looks of it,” Wolf states. “The newest issue is the effect on groundwater and runoff from all of the beetle kill. Trees are absorbing much less water than they used to because so many of them are dead. Trees around the houses that used to be healthy are dying off and also creating fire and wind hazards.”

Alpine Timbers Construction began in 1979, but Wolf ’s experience and deep local roots go back decades earlier. While the Wolf family lived in Denver when Bob was growing up, he spent summers in the Fraser Valley with his surveyor/civil engineer father. The senior Wolf liked the area so much that he started developing Icebox Estates near Fraser in the 1950s and 60s.

“We all hung out there as kids, helping with what we could, like cutting trees and piling branches for burning,” Wolf says. “I spent all of my summers up here learning house construction.”

In 1975, when Bob’s father created a company called Alpine Timbers to sell lots on what was then the northern edge of the town of Winter Park, Bob was there with him. The family had purchased 120 acres – 60 on the west side of the railroad tracks and 60 on the east.

The east side of the tracks turned into mainly commercial construction, including the building that now hosts The Pub. The west side of the tracks was reserved for residential development, including the company’s eponymous Alpine Timbers neighborhood and Wolf Park, the largest park in the town of Winter Park, created on land donated by Bob’s parents.

RACING: Bob Wolf, age 10 in 1965, races in USSA-sanctioned ski race at Winter Park. Photo Courtesy of Bob Wolf.

When Bob started Alpine Timbers Construction in 1979 his plans were to build one spec house, sell it, build another,
and continue that pace each year. “Then the 1980s recession came and work quieted down,” Wolf recalls. “You did what you could up here at that time to exist; you did anything for a paycheck.”

When Mary Jane Ski Area opened in 1975, Wolf joined the Winter Park Ski Patrol. “At that time, there was no construction in the winter anyway, so you kept your other job to offset the slow construction times.” He continues to patrol today, just finishing his 34th year.

He also is the president of the Grand County Water & Sanitation District #1 board, which serves the town of Winter Park – a position he has held for the last 16 years. Water and sanitation are very important items to be involved with in the Fraser Valley, as there is only a certain amount of water left for the overall development of the valley.

By 1989, the economy was starting to improve, so Wolf built another spec house. It didn’t sell until 1992, but it was the first home in Winter Park to sell for more than $200,000. People started returning to the valley to make investments and also to build their own homes.

Wolf continues to build about one custom home a year, due to the detail work in each home. But in that same year, they will be finishing one house and getting ready to break ground in the spring on the next house.

“My philosophy was, and is, that I didn’t want to get too big. I’ve seen the problems that go along with that,” he says. “I wanted to stay involved at the core level. I enjoy using my hands, putting a tool belt on.” Staying small allows him to continue to ski patrol; but also allows his clients to have greater access to him. “By staying small, you have more one-on-one interaction with the client,” Wolf says. “When you have a better relationship, you get a better house. When you think about it, really, building a house is an art project.”

Today, Wolf has two and a half employees – one a fellow Winter Park Ski Patroller, one a Winter Park Ski School and one in Denver who works in Grand County in the summer. Alpine Timbers still does the primary construction work seasonally.

“I’ve seen many people working construction outside, year-round and getting burned out,” Wolf said. “Quality goes down along with attitudes in the winter.”

He makes sure the outside work is done in the summer and the house trimmed out in the winter, with completion by midwinter. Then, his crew and contractors move to the inside work during the worst of the high country winter. That schedule also allows Wolf to spend a good part of the ski patrolling. “Building and patrolling — one balances the stress of the other,” he says. “It keeps the mind fresh. That’s why I don’t get overwhelmed and why I balance the construction job with the seasons.”

“The details and demands of homebuilding today can create more stress than decades ago,” says Wolf. “It used to be a house was just a house. There wasn’t as much to choose from, just carpet, vinyl, and cabinetry. Today, homes are so much more involved. There’s so much more that gets put into them – wiring, electronics, tile, granite. It’s not just a cabin in the woods anymore. It’s not harder, but there are so many more possibilities. The hard part is people making decisions about their home so far in advance.”

Wolf ’s most recent custom home is in Leland Creek Estates, a fraction of a mile uphill from his father’s original Alpine Timbers.

“There aren’t many people left up here with big, long ties to the valley,” says Wolf. “It gives me perspective and understanding.” He’s still servicing the same clients after 30 years!

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