This morning, I was on site at Parkview Mountain House reviewing construction progress and finalizing some finishes with our contractor. And during that time, he said two things to me that I was frankly happy to hear.

The first is that we are his only client -- ever -- where they didn't need to touch the construction contingency line item. (Knock on wood. We are about 2 months out from completion at this point.) And the second is that he loves working with us because we are also his most decisive client.

Now to be fair, both of these things are easier to do when you're not building your own home, or something else for yourself. The process becomes less emotional and more just about business.

Even still, this is generally the aspiration with all construction projects. As an owner, you want to leave your contingency untouched. You want to minimize changes. And you want to make decisions as fast as humanly possible.

In fact, this is a prime example of the mantra that "any decision is better than no decision." And that's because poor decision making is the kiss of death for construction projects. You need to keep things moving.

I also find that decisions tend to seem more daunting in the moment. When you're staring at 37 different shades of white paint and being asked to pick just one, it can be easy to get analysis paralysis. Is a yellow white with a subtle green undertone really the right one?

But more often than not, when the project is done, you're probably not going to remember the other 36 shades of white you didn't select. Or least that's been my experience. So choosing speed over perfection is typically your safest bet.

The building season is short in Park City. There was still snow on our site in May and there was snow again on our site by October. You can certainly build through the winter, but it's not ideal. It slows you down, and so the team has been racing to get "closed in" before the real winter weather arrives. (Park City Mountain Resort opens for the season on November 17.)

Right now, it looks like we'll be finished framing by early next week. We have our framing inspection scheduled with Summit County on Wednesday. Here's a progress shot of level three from last week:

This is the top floor of the house, which will house the kitchen, dining area, living room, terrace (which is where the above photo was taken from), and two bay windows. The far one is going to serve as a seat in the living room, and the closer one (on the right) is going to be a workspace area. In both cases, they're designed to orient you towards the trees and the mountain.

Overall, this was Mattaforma's design strategy -- to create a kind of introverted house. The windows facing the street are generally small and placed to frame very specific views of the landscape; whereas the windows facing the trees and mountain are generous. The intent was to always connect you with nature as you move throughout the house.

Sadly, PMH won't be available for rent this winter. But if you'd like to get on the list for next summer and winter, click here.

I am in Park City for the weekend because we just started site works for Parkview Mountain House (PMH).

When you’re building in the mountains, there are generally two types of sites: sites that are uphill from the road and sites that are downhill from the road.

The latter is significantly harder to build on because you have to first create access to the lot, which means bringing in soil and creating a ramp. You may also end up craning in materials.

Thankfully, our site is on the uphill side. You bring in an excavator, dig into the mountain, and then you have a flat workable site.

That’s what we’re doing on site right now and it’s what you’re seeing above — a big hole in the side of a mountain. And it’s pretty exciting.

Photos: Isaac Silvera