I’m proud of the Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church because it affects a lot of people, and it happens that I am a member of the church. It was a real honor to be chosen to design and manage the design and construction. It has become one of the iconic buildings in Sun Valley. We collaborated with an artist in London to design the central light fixture inside. It’s unexpected, and it’s beautiful. You can watch a video about the design of the church by scanning the QR code. https://youtu.be/ nJlJXvBrdlQ?si=QIuuoJttJeTSNaQ5 Do you have a favorite project you’ve worked on? It’s hard to pick just one — that would be like picking your favorite child. Several projects have resulted in lifelong friendships, and I am still very close to several of those families. Costa Rica, the fishing lodge in New Zealand, which has won many awards from the travel world and has been rated as one of the top places to visit, the 20-plus homes in Hawaii and Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Sun Valley, Idaho — I have enjoyed working on all of them. Do you have offices out of state? I create teams wherever I go that’s out of our area. I don’t have an office at the location; I have builders and artisans to team up with me, so I don’t have to travel back and forth as frequently. Are you involved in any charities outside of the workplace? We have been involved with our church’s outreach for 40 years. We also support Higher Ground, a local organization that helps veterans as well as special needs children and adults. My wife led the Girl Scouts for 30 years, and we continue to support them. There are many nonprofits we support, including the University of Idaho. What do you see as the biggest challenge for Idaho architects today? Trying to help communities realize they need to plan ahead and be mindful of their history and their unique personalities and not lose sight of that with the growth demands. Growth is inevitable, and that is not bad, but it’s got to be well thought through. I was the chairman of the Planning Commission in Sun Valley for 23 years. We worked hard to keep Sun Valley, Sun Valley. I think architects should be active and involved with planning in their various communities and try to help guide the planning and zoning commissions and city councils. With their background and training, growth can be thoughtful. What can architects do to address affordable housing in Idaho? I’m currently working on a project to address this issue. Many of our communities lack affordable housing. We need to look for ways to plan ahead, not just with land planning but also be open to new types of housing in order to find solutions to the affordable housing problem. There is a lot of opportunity with manufactured housing because it’s built in a controlled environment. I think we’re going to see more of manufactured housing that can meet the challenge for affordable housing. We also need to use our land differently — look at some of the areas where we have farmland after farmland that has been subdivided. In Europe, they don’t use their farmland for housing; they’re protective to preserve productive farmland. We need more density in some but not all areas. We can’t do things the way we’ve always done them. I don’t have all the solutions, but I think all of us have to take a fresh look at how we plan for growth. Any thoughts to pass on to up-and-coming architects? It’s one thing to be in the business, but it is also important to get involved with your community and share your educational experience to help guide the planning of your communities. b 17
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