STORY

The flats at Hartman Place

The flats at Hartman Place are the creation of four old friends, who formed a partnership to develop a dream. Ken Duce is an historical architect, now retired from the National Park Service. Cathy Duce is an interior designer. Peter MacDonald is a land use attorney and urban planner. And his wife, Kathleen, is a teacher and former journalist with a taste for excellence in home furnishings. 

For years the four good friends worked on home-related projects together, often discussing planning and architecture. With the idea of building something special for themselves ten years ago, they bought two old houses in downtown Missoula along the Clark Fork River. Over time, Ken and Cathy continued their study of modern contemporary exteriors, interiors, and furnishings.  As the couples looked back on their lifetimes of housing, they recalled small places as young couples with and without children, larger spaces with growing kids, and, in the case of the Duces, back to a small, 700-square foot studio apartment -- for them the favorite place of all.

Hartman Place is a result of this personal study of the “livability of the home”.  The flats at Hartman Place are all relatively small studio and one-bedroom homes that live large.  The living areas are comfortable for one or two people but are also comfortable when friends or family share food and entertainment.  Large sit-down dinners are easily accommodated in all the homes for those special occasions, yet most of the time, when home alone, cozy comfortable is the choice.  Layout and proportions in the living spaces are most important for a functional and comfortable home.  Large covered decks contribute to the living area at Hartman Place.

For the few times a year that most of us have overnight houseguests, we make available a shared guest suite among the six homes.  The guest suite is fully appointed with refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, and a table for two so a light breakfast or snack can be enjoyed “on their own”.  The Doubletree Inn or Holiday Inn are a few minutes walk away for larger groups of guests or for those few times a year when the suite may be “taken already”. And for fun or party, all the homes share the use of the roof top deck.

Ken Duce studied both historical and modern building materials in his work as an architect. And during those years, both the Duce and MacDonald families lived the normal American experience in homes that required constant maintenance and materials replacement. The repetitious, costly lifestyle of the modern home left us all wanting a more stable environment free of the “re-do” cycle. And, Ken, in his passionate approach to architecture, told us we could make it happen.

Hartman Place is the result of this quest. In the last years of Ken’s career, he learned about, by way of a U.S. Park Service project, a very old but very durable material, time tested to last for centuries.  This material is Natural Hydraulic Lime or historically, Roman concrete.  We have chosen this material for construction of Hartman Place.  Our goal for this project is a building that will last for centuries, not the few short decades that is the norm today.

We are able to provide a healthy, sustainable environment by combining old and new technology to meet future needs. The lime masonry will be used in conjunction with state of the art glazing systems, ground source heat pumps, and in-floor and ceiling slab radiant heating and cooling systems, allowing low energy use, low sound transmission between units, and high indoor air quality. Our plan is to use other “green” materials and techniques to meet the requirements of a LEED Platinum rating, the highest rating for a “green building” under the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system.

Our location – inviting easy walking to Missoula’s many amenities and providing light on the land energy and resource efficient flats – is ideal. Perhaps most important to us is the livable small home where we are surrounded by true comfort. As we realize this dream for ourselves, we welcome a few others to share. Consider joining us at Hartman Place.

Ken and Cathy Duce
Pete and Kathleen MacDonald