• Home
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
Friday, May 27, 2022
Unique Homes
  • For Sale
  • Blog
    • News
    • Lifestyles
    • Locations
    • Features
  • Magazines
    • Unique Homes
    • Homes & Estates
    • Keller Williams Luxury
    • Luxury Collection of Florida
    • Luxury Portfolio International
    • Luxury Real Estate
    • Prestige
    • Unique Homes China
    • Distinctive Properties
    • Domain
  • The High End
    • The High End
  • Homes
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
    • Our Team
    • Advertise With Us
    • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Unique Homes
  • For Sale
  • Blog
    • News
    • Lifestyles
    • Locations
    • Features
  • Magazines
    • Unique Homes
    • Homes & Estates
    • Keller Williams Luxury
    • Luxury Collection of Florida
    • Luxury Portfolio International
    • Luxury Real Estate
    • Prestige
    • Unique Homes China
    • Distinctive Properties
    • Domain
  • The High End
    • The High End
  • Homes
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
    • Our Team
    • Advertise With Us
    • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Unique Homes
No Result
View All Result

Keeping Out Tahoe’s Biggest Intruder With a Bear Door

by Unique Homes Staff
May 31, 2019
0
Keeping Out Tahoe’s Biggest Intruder With a Bear Door

Todd Mather, TGM Architects

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Returning home to find their mountain getaway ransacked a few too many times led Libby and Mike Murphy to hire a team that could finally come up with a solution to keep unwelcome bears outside where they belong. The project was led by award-winning architect, Todd Gordon Mather, who collaborated with general contractor, Norm Milz, to engineer a sleek, protective “Bear Door” to outsmart nature’s crafty intruders once and for all.

TGM Architect specializes in creating unique living spaces that often solve interesting challenges like creating innovative snow-design elements or in this case, a protective barrier indestructible by bears. The Bear Door needed to be made of reinforced material with a smooth surface and fully-enclosed edges, unlike sliding, barn or track doors, so bears couldn’t grab hold and force it open. The door was built by welding two tube-steel frames together and weighs a whopping 1,600 pounds, though it is easily raised and lowered with the flip of a switch on the living room wall.

The Bear Door lifts upward directly out of the deck using two hydraulic pistons operated by a motor that is stored in a separate equipment room underground. When raised, the door’s hot rolled steel is a beautiful design feature as well as a fireproof. Once the Bear Door is lowered, the glass sliding door and window accessing the living room are revealed. The Bear Door seamlessly tucks away under-foot when not in use by sliding into a two-foot concrete sleeve that was built into the home’s foundation beneath the back deck.

The Murphys originally purchased their home in Alpine Meadows in the early 2000s, coincidentally in the same neighborhood that Libby grew up in. It wasn’t until she was touring the backyard that she recognized the property she had played at as a little girl. A self-described “serial remodeler”, Murphy and her husband made several upgrades to the home, but none as unique and impressive as the Bear Door, which is the first of its kind.

The door inspired Mather and Milz to incorporate touches of custom decorative steelwork throughout the home’s interior. He installed steel railings on the staircase, steel shelving and cabinetry, a private reading nook built-in to a rock wall with steel bookshelves, even a steel toilet paper dispenser in the master bath. The exterior of the home was also sided with hot-rolled steel which is not only decorative but also a fireproof and requires no maintenance whatsoever.

Photos by Vance Fox.

Tags: beardoorfeatureHomeinnovationmountainOutdoorprotectionwildlife
Unique Homes Staff

Unique Homes Staff

Related Posts

Design

Car-Free Communities

December 14, 2021
Company Spotlight

Custom Gulf-front Home in Casey Key, Florida up for Auction

February 18, 2021
Under Pressure
Destinations

Under Pressure

January 13, 2021
Under Pressure
Features

Under Pressure

December 11, 2020
Join Unique Homes for a Free Session on What You Need to Know Now
Ads

Join Unique Homes for a Free Session on What You Need to Know Now

December 3, 2020
News

Rise to the Top

April 21, 2020
Next Post

IQ Raising Amenities

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

Windows of Imagination

Windows of Imagination

May 26, 2022
Feeling the Light

Feeling the Light

May 23, 2022
worth ave

A Summer Weekend to Remember

May 18, 2022
Torre Del Castellano

Florence | Italy

May 16, 2022
Celestial Standard Time

Celestial Standard Time

May 11, 2022

Category

  • Ads (48)
  • Agent Spotlight (39)
  • Agents (63)
  • Art (25)
  • Decor (64)
  • Design (111)
  • Destinations (61)
  • Fabulous Florida (5)
  • Fashion (7)
  • Features (241)
  • Furniture (1)
  • Gift (11)
  • Gift guide (5)
  • Inspiration (3)
  • Lifestyles (393)
  • Locations (501)
  • Luxury Property (33)
  • News (591)
  • Press Release (15)
  • Property Spotlight (64)
  • Real Estate News (34)
  • Showcase Homes (21)
  • Uncategorized (108)
  • Wellness (7)
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
Call us: 1-833-928-9020

© 2022 Copyright by UniqueHomes.com™. All rights reserved. - Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • For Sale
  • Blog
    • News
    • Lifestyles
    • Locations
    • Features
  • Magazines
    • Unique Homes
    • Homes & Estates
    • Keller Williams Luxury
    • Luxury Collection of Florida
    • Luxury Portfolio International
    • Luxury Real Estate
    • Prestige
    • Unique Homes China
    • Distinctive Properties
    • Domain
  • The High End
    • The High End
  • Homes
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
    • Our Team
    • Advertise With Us
    • Subscribe

© 2022 Copyright by UniqueHomes.com™. All rights reserved. - Privacy Policy