So with just the bare bones of an idea,

So with just the bare bones of an idea, the Gottliebs and Gowells advertised a design contest, soliciting ideas from architectural firms throughout the Northern Virginia area and beyond.

Chance Meeting

While awaiting finalization of their dream, Margaret and Sid bought a little place at the foot of Red Oak Mountain in Woodville. Enamoured of the panoramic view of Rappahannock from its crest, they often hiked to the top, spending afternoons walking while they talked of their plans for Blackwater Creek Homestead.

On their way down one early evening, they were joined by a young man wheeling his broken bicycle back to Woodville from his home on the mountain. Sam Clifton listened to their ideas for an energy efficient, communal home that would fit their needs into old age and then asked if he and his partner, Ken Ritvo, could submit a design.

The Gottliebs encouraged their Red Oak neighbor to enter the competition and lent him Sid’s bicycle. But when they didn’t hear from Clifton and weeks stretched into months, they forgot about his interest in their project.

Then just a day before the design competition deadline, Ritvo and Clifton brought in a set of blueprints. “And they won—hands down!" Sid reported.

Neither of the two men was an architect but they’d gained experience in solar heating techniques building sun spaces to go around Rappahannock Hot Tubs, a business venture formerly based in Flint Hill.

"We gave them a rough assignment.” Sid said. “Each of the three separate apartments had to have a south facing front (to absorb solar heat) and a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. And the house had to be tight. We wanted a minimum of air infiltration and a maximum of insulation so that any heat would be held in whether it came from the wood stoves or from the sun."

"We were willing to spend 12 times the anticipated first year energy savings to prevent heat loss or to give us an energy gain.” added Bob Gowell.