Rotating Somers home offers changing views
<p>A series of photos taken as The Twisted Moose rotates. Alan DeLeon said that at top speed the house completes a full rotation in 13 minutes. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Alan and Deanna DeLeon in their rotating home The Twisted Moose on Tuesday, May 2, in Somers. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A view of the kitchen area of The Twisted Moose, the octagon shaped house was designed to rotate. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Master bedroom of Alan and Deanna DeLeon in the rotating octagon shaped home, The Twisted Moose. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A mirror in the entryway of The Twisted Moose reflects the kitchen and allows a view into the master bedroom and in the library and desk area of the home. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Mid-construction photo of the rotating base of The Twisted Moose. Photo courtesy of Alan DeLeon</p>
If Alan and Deanna DeLeon don’t like the morning sunshine glaring through their bedroom window, they simply flip a switch, rotate their home to a shady spot and crawl back into bed.
Being able to have any view in any room at any time is the prime benefit of having a home that sits on a 50-foot-diameter motorized turntable that can rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise at variable speeds.
It’s not a stretch to declare the DeLeons’ rotating, octagonal house near Somers one of the most unique homes in the Flathead Valley. While there are a handful of rotating restaurants around the world, there are only five rotating homes across the globe, according to Alan DeLeon.
Their home is one of three rotating houses in the United States, his research shows.
At top speed, it takes 13 1/2 minutes for the DeLeons’ home to make a full rotation.
“A lot of time we leave it rotating all day,” Deanna said.
Built in the Cramer Creek area above Flathead Lake, the home commands a stunning view of the lake.
The ability to build a rotating home is directly related to the DeLeons’ line of work.
Both natives of Las Vegas, they own a company that builds theatrical staging for shows and special-effects equipment, including turntables. Growing up in the stage production business allowed Alan to develop the expertise to build turntables of any size.
Alan completed all the mechanical and steel work for the turntable and handled the plumbing and electrical work as well.
To give an idea of the scope of this project, there are 35,000 pounds of steel in the turntable, yet the home rotates with a simple 1 1/2-horsepower motor about the size of a washing-machine motor.
Their home, lovingly dubbed the “Twisted Moose,” isn’t a mansion by any means. It’s a compact 1,400 square feet, but within the walls of the modest-sized space is a lot of grandeur. A 17-foot-high rock waterfall greets guests as they enter the front door. There are 15 tons of stone throughout the home that frame a fireplace and provide a backdrop for a wet bar, among other accents.
It took two years to build the $500,000 Twisted Moose. While the DeLeons did much of the work themselves, they drew on the expertise of a number of local specialists, including Datum Drafting for architectural design; Glimm Custom Homes for framing; 93 Wood Products for cabinetry; Jurvos Construction for rock work; Sierra Pacific for windows and Tom Simensen for radiant heat.
Other special features of the home are hydronic radiant floor heating, reclaimed chestnut flooring, custom tiles and slate, rustic hickory and reclaimed ash kitchen cabinetry, granite countertops, sandstone and rock bath finishes.
A custom-made curved counter in the kitchen features 11 types of laminated exotic woods.
“We want people to feel comfortable here,” Alan said. “We want all the fun little things.”
The DeLeons first contemplated simply building a “party hut” where they could stage neighborhood gatherings. They lived in a 900-square-foot guest cabin on the property during the construction and were content in the cabin, but ultimately they decided the Twisted Moose would be a bona fide dwelling place.
“We’re just tickled with it,” Alan said. “We had a ball building it.”
Deanna took the lead with decorating, but pointed out, “We fed off each other.
“Alan is always thinking outside the box,” she said.
A large cantilevered 25-by-30-foot deck on the lake side of the home is a great staging area for the couple’s neighborhood parties. A zipline running from the deck down the hill is evidence of the DeLeons’ playfulness. There’s a pistol and rifle shooting range and a clay pigeon range on their property, too.
Though the DeLeons travel to Las Vegas about once a month for business, the Twisted Moose is now home.
They had fun messing with the UPS and FedEx drivers when the home was first finished. During one delivery the front door was in one spot, and the next time it was in a different spot.
As both delivery drivers and neighbors have found out, it’s anyone’s guess where the front door will be on any given day.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.