A resident of Gettysburg, Pa., Anderson said the idea came to him about two years ago when he and his wife visited the Kenai Peninsula and stumbled onto a bluff with a view of the ocean and spruce and alder surroundings.

“Seeing the land, it was such a strong suggestion for what the environment could be, and then it popped into my head,” Anderson said.

Moving to Alaska wasn’t his original goal, Anderson said. Growing up in Illinois, his father often took him on fishing trips. After a trip to Canada, the two decided their next adventure would take them to Alaska, but his father died before they could make the trip.

“For the next 30 years, it was sort of my mission to get up here,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he first became interested in chalets after visiting Europe with his family. After buying his Alaska property, he said, he spent a year and a half researching and analyzing chalets, studying drawings in German-texts and books from the early 1900s about their design.

A history buff, Anderson, 65, spent the last 20 years restoring a pre-Civil War house in Gettysburg. He worked as an engineer for 20 years while selling historical military and patriotic antiques on the side. He is now retired.

“I’ve just always been in love with historic design,” Anderson said. “It’s been my business for 50 years.”

David Stutzer, the building’s contractor from Homer, said chalets usually are located in areas with lots of trees and snow. Stutzer, who apprenticed in Switzerland, said unlike traditional chalets, Anderson’s house is being made with timber siding rather than logs.

Tom Beaudoin, a Homer carpenter, said while the house isn’t the most complex project he has worked on, “probably what’s unique to me is the size.” All told, the house measures 2,800 square feet.

Chalets also normally have tile roofs, but the shear cost of shipping 36,000 pounds of tiles to Alaska made that not an option, Anderson said. Metal will instead take its place, he said.

But other aspects retain the traditional chalet look. Rafters are spaced out four feet rather than two feet since the design calls for them to be 6 inches by 8 inches, about three times as thick as in modern houses. They then come together at the center of house inside the attic.

“Part of the design of this place is as you get higher and higher, the place gets more elaborate,” Anderson said.

Wally Waldorf, another Homer carpenter on the project, said he is most impressed by the traditional, decorative beams outside the house. The heavy beams, sticking out six feet, look almost like ocean waves with their round curves.

“That’s what makes it fun, the beams,” Waldorf said. “I don’t think there’s another house around here that looks like this.”

Inside, the chalet will have all the niceties of a modern house, with two bathrooms, three bedrooms and an office. One room will be specifically for looking at the scenery, complete with an outside deck, Anderson said.

“The only reason for the existence of this house is the view,” he said.

To hold all of his books, Anderson instructed the crew to build a library on the second floor. His collection of books had become so large that it was weighing down his house in Pennsylvania, he said.

Construction likely will wrap up in November, Stutzer said, though Anderson said he expects work on the house will continue into next year. In the meanwhile, Anderson will continue living in a fifth wheel a short stroll away.

His wife, Debra, stayed in Gettysburg to sell their home there.

While he doesn’t know how much the new chalet ultimately will cost, Anderson said it “will be quite expensive.”

“Everyone knows I’m a little eccentric to go to this length,” he said. “It’s very artistic and it’s my last shot.”

A Swiss chalet is under construction in Happy Valley.