It’s the biggest house on the hill and its San Deigo-based owner wants everyone to know it.

Dr. Mitch Perlman started building his dream home—a 5,300 square-foot contemporary palace on the slopes of Big White—when life in Kelowna was cheap and Big White’s guaranteed snow made skiing easy.

The project survived the 2003 firestorms, the concrete strike and suffered through hit after hit with the labour crisis to make it to its crowning moment this August when it is officially completed, and assumes its role as the largest home at Big White.

“This is something very, very different. It’s not just another home on the mountain. this one takes it up a notch,” said Perlman in a telephone interview from San Deigo.

But after years of trials and tribulations, Perlman is realizing it’s going to take more than manpower to keep his dream alive—its going to take marketing.

“Things got so expensive. It’s outragous. We started the house five years ago and what we had budgeted and thought it would cost—it’s gone up 100 per cent,” he said.

“Fortunately the outcome is spectacular, but what was supposed to be something for me and my family to enjoy has become a business in itself.”

The home has already been used in the filming of Shred, a rags to riches tale set to be released this winter. And it will be rented year round for corporate retreats.

In the meantime, Perlman will be working away in his practice as a child neuropsychologist, splitting his time between B.C. and San Deigo in order to keep the rentals rolling and mortgages in check.

“I did everything to make this house work,” he said, noting it’s almost double the size of the next biggest house in the area and will likely push real estate prices higher.

The realtor who sold him the property, Jim Henry, confirmed it is the largest, but could not be reached for further comment as he was out of cell range in Big White.

It is five storeys with 13- to 28-foot ceilings, a spiral staircase made of glass blocks, and geothermal heating.

An automated audio and video system allows Perlman to control everything from the lights to who walks through the front door over the Internet.

Designed by local architect Dennis Apchin, it is also purportedly the first contemporary home in the neighbourhood, with sleek lines, massive floor-to-ceiling windows and an indoor/outdoor swimming pool.

“He gave me everything I wanted but the glass elevator,” Perlman said of Apchin’s design.

And Perlman refused to compromise.

To bring the project to fruition, he imported expertise from the United States to deal with some of the automated components and paid workers extra to secure labour, even putting up some of his crew on the mountain for the duration of their jobs.

Asked why he did it, Perlman says he loved the snow at Big White.

It was a disappointing trip to the rainy slopes of Whistler that brought him into the Interior, where he discovered the people and City of Kelowna.

As for how long he plans to rent the property, Perlman says it will be at least until he adjusts to how much he owes.

By Jennifer Smith
Staff reporter at Kelowna Capital News