Fine.homebuilding.summer

36

UP FRONT 6 Contr ibutors

8 Taking Issue A dismal standard

20 Commentary The barn of fun, Contracts

36 Fixtures & Materials Design in a can, Stylish prefab fireplace, Colmed fjberboard

48 Breaktime

STRUCTURE REV EALED 100

Fine Homebuilding,

FEATURES COVER STORY

58 The 25 Most Important Houses in America

68

74

80

84

90

We pick the best, the worst, and the most influential houses In the country BY SEAN GROOM AND CHARLES MILLER

A High-Perfonnance Spec House A team approach creates an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly house for a growing market BY CHRISTOPHER BRILEY

A Duplex Grows in Brooklyn J ... ggling setbacks and ceiling heights gains a garage, and an apartment to help with the mortgage BY JOHN AND JllllIOURATOGLOJ

Raising the Baby Bam Bit by b,t, an architect bUilds a vacation house in the Vermont foothills 11'1' PETER KURT WOERNER

A House for the End or Cheap Oil Healthful, light-filled, and energy-efticient, this home reaches back to its California past and toward a sustainable future BY DAVID ARI(IN

21st-Century Fannhouse Traditional shapes house a modern family of telecommuting parents and three energetic k;ds BY MICHAEL HOPWOOD

95 From Small to Big Enough A worker's bungalow expands to meet contemporary needs wilhoLit losing its charm BY All I MASTIN

100 A Contemporary Long House Inspired by Northwest Nalive American homes, a new retreat points its gabled prow ~_ard and shO'HS off its structure inside 11'1' DAVID HALL

www.finehomebuilding.com

106 Daylight and the Row House In an old city neighborhood. a glass cupola delivers sunlight to showcase the Interior of a dazzling new home ElY TANIS AND GfNF SHAW

112 A Low-Budge~ High-Impact House A designlbuild team deli"'ers a custom house with copper counters, oak floors, travertine stairs, and a great outdoor space for S126 per sq. ft. BY CHRIS STFBIlINS

IN THE BACK

120 Design Galle,),

130 What's the Difference? Wood flooring, Recessed lighting, Chimneys

140 Drawing Board Designing liyi()g rooms for furniture

154 Great Moments A Dream Dies Hard, blll TOil$lY

,

CATC H THE SUN 106

ImITheTaumOn Press W rn"pir~riol1 for haods-on living.

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6 lOll',!': H OMEBU I LDING

DAVID ARKIN ("A House for the End of Cheap Oil,"

pp. 84-89) and his wife, Anni Tilt, are principals at Arkin Tilt Architects, where they've worked extensively with

alternative construction systems such as straw bale and rammed earth, renewable energy sy5tems, and nontoxic

and recycled materials. Winners of many awards for their work in sustainable design, Anni and David live

with their two children in a 96-year-old solar- and windpowered home in Albany, Calif. Most days, they bicycle or walk to work, but when necessary, they drive a 1970

electric VW Beetle or a 1999 biodiesel Beetle.

PETER KURT WOERNER ("Raising

the Baby Barn," pp, 80·83), FAIA, has a master's in architecture from Yale Univ9r.;ity, He established

a design/build practice in New Haven, Conn" in 1975, and since then, his firm's work has included residences, offices, galleries, restaurants, and hotels across the country

and abroad. The recipient of four AIAlCSA Honor Awards, Peter also

was named by Town & Country m<l9ilzine as one of the

top 50 residential architects in the United States.

Although GENE and TANIS SHAW ("Daylight and the Row House," pp, 106-111) both studied at the Penn

sylvania Ac.ademy of the Fine Arts in the 19705, they didn't meet until 1984, at the school's Mnual student art show, Gene is founder of The Wooden Plane, which

specializes in home restoration and custom cabinetry. Tanis is the company's office manager and also pursues her own interests in art and volunte-er work

CHRIS STEBBINS ("A Low-Budget, High-Impact House," pp, 112-117) has run a design/build firm in the Pacific -

~ Northwest for 16 years, helping clients to negotiate the sometimes daunting process of home design, remodeling, ]

and restoration. Chris says his Vermont Yankee upbring- ~. ing, his background as an architecture student, and his ?1 e;.;perience as a contractor bring a no-nonsense appeal .~ ,

u to his work, emphasizing durability and simplicity.

JOHN and Jill BOURATOGlOU ("A Duplex Grows I in Brooklyn," pp. 74·79) teach architecture at New York 1 City College of Technology. Their firm, Bouratoglou w

Architect, PC, recently won a Sociaty of American Rag·

istered Architects Award of Merit for the home featured .. ~ in this issua, a duplex where they live with their sons Max and Julian. j

Fine llonlebuilding

Editor Kevin Ir.-ton Executive Art Director Robert Goodfellow

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Executive Editor Tim Snyder

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Fine Homebuilding Books & Videos Executive Editor, Home building

Steve Culpepper

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takingissue PERSPECTIVES ON RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

A dismal standard BY TEDD BENSON

ost ofthc roughly 1.5 million houses built every year are pieced

togerher H1 :J wasteful, anti

quated way that has changed remarkahly little in 1 SO years. \Vhile many indU$tries have

reinvented themselves, taking advantage of cutting-edge technologies and mnovative rn<lll

agemem styles, home building has not. As a result, new homes ;lrt an overly d efective product,

many of which will be lucky to survive their mortgage.

A Cu!/Sumtcr Reports article about shoddy home construCtion quotes an engin('cr who

estimates that 15% of all new homes have seriOUS defects, and he's not talking about dinged

drywall or oren miter joint.~. Other research mdicate~ the

estimate should be even higher. The Orlando Semmel inspected 4()(i new homes selected at

random in the Orlando area in 200i and found that 180 had serious defects (e.g., faulty foundations, dangerous mois[Ure

intrusion, inadequate framing). Of course, the home~ you and

I build are not like that, right? Our homes might have far

fewer Haws, but most of us usc the same construction system, the same linear, site-intensive

process, anJ the same network of sulxontractors and suppliers. We get to our higher standards

by way of deeper pockets and by dim of severe effort, not be-

8 F1NEIiOMERU1LDll'.·{;

cause we have imagined a better way. The dismal standard of the average AMerican home is our fatlure, too.

Manufacturing in the rain [)':spite tht" inhcrt"nt diflicul

ties and ineHiciencie~, mure than 94% of new homes still are manufacturedlargdyon rllt" building site. Tt's as if a certain

amount of suffering is the fair fknance fox the hlessing of the product.

From experience, I know it's

hard to do good work when

you can't fed your fingers,or when you're ankle deep in

mud, ur when it's been raining for five dJys straight and you're

spending most of your time tying down tarps. Of course, there are perfect days and

perfect sites, but rardy do they come together to allow even tht" best crew to do optimal work. In the end, it·s just plain hard to provide value to rhe homeowner when good work and good progress are stymieJ hy the challenges of ju~t being

on site. Two hundred years ago, there

was no alternative. The ideas,

technologies, and processes of higher-quality production hadn't been invented yet. But it wasn't

so bad. Homes basically were built with stone, brick, wood, and plaster, and the work could

be done by a few dedicated crews with no lllterruptions.

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SPR I NG/SUMMER 1001:> 9

takingissue _____ ..:::. ______ CON TIN U E D

That's not true today. Homes

are now full of eqUIpment, systems, fixtures, and materi~ :t is that can require 20 or mOTC

subcontracting companies to build a single hou~e. With all th~ people plying all those trades to cut, shape, and fit

" The deep sense of honor about being in the building

trades has aU but faded. "

10 FINE H OMEBUI LDING

raw commodities into finished products on individual building sites, in all kinds of weatha, our time-honored approach finally loob absurd. As Kent Larson

ufMIT's Open Source Bui lding Allmnce says, "Building homes entirely on site now makes as

much sense as building a car in your driveway."

The cost of subs Orchestrating and managing Sl)

many independent contractors is expemiv(:, time--consuming, and frustrating. It is impossible to control delays caused by natufe and nearly as impossible to control a ~or~ of small ~uhcontracting firms, each with its own schedul~. Ev~n the best coordination dlorts lead to ~ubcontractors tTlpping ov~r each other or to numerous delays.

In a study conducted over several years in the Phoenix area, actual building-operations occurred only 25% to 40% of a typical house's total construction tim~. As Howard Bashford, a building-t:onstruction expert

at Arizona State Univenity, puts it: "Th~ activity that occurs most often in home huilding is nothing."

The lost time adds up to money, especially in the cost of overhead and financing. You could put a lot of quality back inlu th~ building for the expense of 60 to 100 days lost to nothing- at all h"pp!':ning.

The end of pride I was inspired to become a carpcnt~r wh~n llearn~d from traditional New England cr .. ftsm~n just how incredihly challenging it is to master the trade. These were people of great dignity and pride who could do everything on the job site from forml[Jg the foundation to making the last cabinet.

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taking issue _____ ..:~ _____ • CON TIN U E 0

Only 35 years later, that breed is nearly extinct. And the deep sense of honor and pride about being in the building trades has all but faded away with them.

According to an article in the St. P~tcrsbu1f~ Times, the aver-

" In 10 or 15 years, who will build our homes? "

12 FI .'E HOMEIlUIl.DING

age age t,r subcontractors IS 48, and when 100,000 high-school 5tudents were polled on theIr

career preferences, they ranked subcontractor second from the bottom-just above cowboy. I don't know what's wrong wirh

being a cowboy. but you've got to wonder: In 10 or 15 years, who will build our humes?

So far, the possihilities don't

look encouraging. Those who end up in the trade, often get there becau5e they Tall Ollt of options. My brother is a psydlOlogist who {"valuates inmates

for a state penal institution. He tell~ me that at least 75% of the convicted felons he interviews were previously III the construction industry. I've also read that the huilding trades have the hig-hest industry incielence e)f elrug and aleulH)1

ahu~. When all hope and good intention arc gone, you always can go out and build somc

body's home. With few young people getting

mto the building trades, many COntractors arc resorting to day bhorcrs or illegal immigrants or, basically, anyone with a

pulse. Most work in the trades today requires no qualifications or training. To cut my hair, you would need to have attended a certified school and passed written, oral, and practical examinations. To roof my house, you would need only a few hand tools, a ladder, and the ,hingles.

A tangled mess For the past ISO years, most new humes have been stickbuih, meanlllg they're made with closely spaced studs, j()ist.~, and rafters. Stick-framlllg was dcvdopcd in response to a need for rapid bui lding that could be accomplished quickly by less-skilled boor. In that respect, stick-framlllg has served us well. It is how thoLL~ands of famil ies werc able to get back

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into shclta after the great Chicago fire, and it's how whole towns could spring up nearly overnight in the rapid settling of the We~tern frontier. It is because of this ~ystem that builden today are confident they can

" ''Vhen all hope and good intention are gone, you can always go out and build

somebody's home. "

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eTea thousands of homes in a suburb .. il development despite a rnaSSlve shortage of _~killed

labor. It's a miracle. However, ,tick-framing was

developed before all the paraphernalia of our modern lifestyle

was contemplated. At the time, wa lls didn't even require insulation, let alone the maw:$ (If \vires,

pipes, ducts, and fixtures considered baSK necess iti e~ today.

The incredible surprise is this: Still today, we crcct the

frame of a house without any acknowledgement of what happens next. W e open the structure to a free-for-all with as

many as a doun subcontractors

wielding Sawzalls and drilh, all vying to get there first to ensure that they have enough space to

get their work done. After that, we stuff insulation around all

the wires and pipes and hetwec:n the structural m em

bers. (These wires, pipes, and studs compromise the performance of the inwhltion, while

the insulation has the potential

to trap moisture, putting the durability of the structure at risk.) Finally, we cover the whole enlangled me~~ with finishes in a hlind hope that nobody will want to make any

changes and that nothing bad will happen in there.

This isn't a system; it's a bad

habit. The process locks in all mitial deCISIOns and makes both

short-term and long-term needs for chang-e a nightmare of de

molition and reconstruction. It was good m its time, but it's

dy~functional now.

We can do better The solutions already exist to bring- residential building- into

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systems, where the huilding

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We can raise the standard of home building as high as we want. We could increase the average life expectancy of homes fivefold. We could reduce energy requirements by 50%

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The barn offun Adding on to our home with a separate building

BY DUO DICKINSON

L ike many h()U~, ouro; u~ to be a one-bedroom

"5tat ter box," but {lver the course of 15 yean, .ilcidltion~ maxed out the available land due to a view rcstriction, a septic fidd. ;lnd benign encroach· ment on sensitive wetlands. With two soon-to-be-teenage sons, my wife and r oecideJ we still needed more sp.1ce.

I lowever, a 200- yc'1T-old white oak stood next toour house, a In:e ~o gloriuu~ thaI when 1 maoe a thret:-ncrltoom home out orlhe orig inal structure, I had to doublc<amikver the floors'" rt. beyond the piers to ensure the oak's su rvi'v31. My pI.In worked: The tree \1 .. 0"1. A~ you ca n see, add ing on

to our house Jgain was not an OptiOn, but hopscolching to the Other side of the tree was. We huilt a separate, freest.md· ing addi tion that has given us

20 PINE HOMEBUILDING

A getaw"y home right next door. Rather than mov~ tQ ;) bigger house to accommodate" growing family, the avthor ooilt a multipurpose dwelling with a thre~ story $CfHl'MJd poren in the backyard. The porch is about SOO sq. ft. ; the Indoor portion add, up to 1300 sq. ft. on two floors.

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commentary CONTINUED

Rough, and ready for ful1. In il bilrn bl.'jJt from an assortment of CilH-oH timber~, leftover flooring, and a collection of mismatched windows, the only precious thing about it is the informal atmosphere where a family can relax t ogether.

22 FIl\'F. HOMEBUILDING

.:nough room to live out the full middle years of family life without moving.

The separate addition, now

known as the "barn of fun," has guest quarters, allowing our

younger son to have his own bcdr(X)m by t.'tking over the

downstairs gut"st Tuum in the maUl house. The new building :llso ~rves as an overflow space

where teenagers can go a little nuts, and it gives us needed storage for a home with no

basement (tidal wetlanJ~) and precious little auic space (height limitations), Living on a marsh as we do, a screened JXlrch IS

a necessity for cating outside. so we went a little nuts our

selves and created a sunsetworshiping space with a table that accommodates 25 for sitriown dinners.

As an architect who ha~ deSigned hundreds ofbuiklings

for friends and strangers, I found determining this last piece

in the puzzle of my own home to he a joy. I also fulfilled my lifelong obsession wi th w(J(Jd.

There are 32 species of wood in this project, many of which are recyclet:l, salvaged, even historic.

The biggest gifl of on-site,

remote construction was time. With nothing but growing sons to push us forward, we took six

years to fine-tunc the Jet"iis of deSign, construction, and zon

ing. The beauty ufbuilding a S("parate addition was that we

had the joy of instant gratification as the barn grew, but at the same time, we didn·t have to

ell(lure the Jin of con~lmetiuJl. Our fund~ were limited, so

we med time as our ally to find

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commentary ___________ ....;;... __ CON r I N U E 0

ca~t_offbuilJing materiab anJ components. A five-ye;u-old

heating plant, made unnecessary hy the douhling of someooe else's home, now heats the

barn. Half the windows that adorn the walls were rqects Jut:

" The new building serves a s an overflow space

where teenagers can go a little nuts. "

to a manufacturer's screwup.

Also, we were able to reuse a

staircase that had been removed durmg one of the additiom to

the main house. Other materials that my job as

an architect afforded me access to included Idtovers such as f100rmg and fimsh plywood,

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24 FINE 1 !()~H:: BUILIJINt;

panial Avonire sheets, and two wtt ~ams from ydlow-cedar mailbox posts.

When siting the barn, we s.1Ved money by working around gigantic boulders rather than simply blasting away. We rt:,awed a red oak

(removed to make way for the barn) into flooring and airdried it under our hOllse for two year$. And rather than U~ drywall, we applied two heavy coats of white paint to Jll the inside faces of the oricntcdstrand-hoa rd skin on the wall and n)of$IPs (~tructura[ insu

lated pands), saving money and cr~ating a ddighrflll1y tex

tured surface. We have occupied the barn

for more than a year now, and

it's a daily joy. I plod through snow, ram, and dark to work

out there every morning. Our hoys practice their musical 1nstruments and take les~ons

there. Countless slet:povers, video-gam~ tournaments, and various dinner panies, fundraisers, and soclJl OCC]SlOnS

have m:lde the barn hard to

~nvIsi()11 liVing without. In the end, our separate addi

tion h;ls worked; no leaks, no

settling. Most important, it has

allowed our teenage som to be away from us, as IS th~lr wont,

yet still doS(: to us. satisfying our parenL'l1 need for control. Holding tight while keeping an arm's ]engeh: the parental paradox manifest 10 a fun building on a sensitive site.

Architect Duo Dickinson is the

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(The Taunton Press, 2005)

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A contract that makes everybody happy BY ROBERT KNIGHT

In terms of making ciienb happy, th~ most Important

eveDt5 in a custom residential project art~ picking a builder :md structuring a contract.

There arc two cOl11mon ways of hiring a general contractor: at a fixed price or on the basis

oftil11c and materials. At my firm, we aren't fond of either

approach, hut We have temnd a Third option thM's faIT to both builder and client. First, thoug-h, let's take a look at how the two

nxlustry standards work. A fixed~price contract usu.111y

is awarded after competitive

26 FI;-..JF HOMEBUILDING

bidding. A group of builders receives a complete set of construction documents, and they return some weeks later with proposals to huild the house for a set amount (If money. The job normally goes to the low bidder.

Although the builder is th~ one taking the risb, potential problems also eXist for the client. First, in a hot market where demand for builders is high, there's no guarantee they will price their work aggresSIVelY. They may come up with a rough estimate, add a very high profit, and figure if they

get the job, then they'll be well covered. Even the lowest bid may not be a good deal. ~ond, fixed-price contracts

require complue construction documents. which can cost approximately 5% of the project tOlal. If the bids are too high and the drawings need to be revl>cd, the architect typically doesn't h<lve enough mformation from the bidder to know exactly where to change the plam.

Finally, a subtle bm nevertheless important adversarial quality exists in the rdatiomhip

between client and builder. The moment a contract is signed. the client wants to get;l hit morc fOf the money, while the builder wants to provide a bit less. Th'lt's just human natUfe.

Time-and-materlals bids The other standard is a riml'and -matenals contract, abbreviated as T&.M Of cost-plus. A builder is hired on reputation, availability, good chemistry, and possibly on what he guesses the building will cost. The client pays an hourly wage LO all workers, which includes

commentary ___________ ....;:;... __ CON TI N U E 0

a markup over their actual co_~t to the builder. The builder

also adds a percentage to the cost of materials. In Maine, where my firm is locatd, the markup usua!ly ranges from 12% to 17%.

" The moment a contract is signed, the client wants to

get a bit more for the money, while the builder wants to provide a bit less. That's

just human nature. "

In a perfect world, there's nothing wrong with this type of contract. res flexible and easy to administer. Assuming

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the builder is competent ;mJ honest, the du::nt get5;"l hou~

for exactly what it costs, plus a known markup for overhead and profit.

However, the contract's flaws

are obvious. The builder makes a profit on every dollar he spends. At some pomt, espe

cially if the job is over budget, the client may start to feel taken advantage of.

Shopping for an estimate when using a cost-plus contract is never a good idea. The wurst decision :1 chent C:1n m:1ke IS to

pick a builder based on what he estimate~ the cost of the joh will be and then sign a contracl that doesn't obligate him to that number. If clients must ~hop fl)r a builder based on price, they should bite the hullet, P.ly for

lhe drawings, ;Hld put out th~ job fo r :1 fixed-price bid .

There is a better way If there were a contract that solved every single problem, it would be locked in a vault at the American Bar Association along with the lawyer whu wrote it. In fairness, it was my bwyer {who hatc-~ lawsuits} who puc me OntO the cost~plus. a-fcc contract, and I think it balances risk and reward at about the right point. Unlike a time-and-materials cuntract, this one h<ls <l fixed fee that contains alt of the overhead and profit.

Let's take a hypothetical $460,000 house. In a fixedprice contract, the builder bids S460,000. rfthe house ends up

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costing more, the builder eats the overage: jfit cosuless, he gets an additional profit.

In a timc~and-ma[crials 1.'00-

tract, the builder estimates the

house will cost 1400,000 plus S60,OOO (a 15% markup).lfthc

" Clients can dicker over the fee, but it's really chump

change compared to the total cost of the job. "

DIF.F.ERENCE

OUR HANDS.

house ends up costing morc, the builder's fee goe~ up, too.

With emt plm a fixed fee, the client signs a contract for the S60,ooo plus the cost of conmuction, which is priced at the builder's actual out-of-pocket

cost. Whether the houSt: costs 1350,000 or S500,OOO, the client still pays 560,000 for tin: builder's overhead and profit.

The advantages an: ohvious. If the cost exceeds the estimate, the builder isn '[ making a fatter fee. Getting the job uone and moving on to another one will be to his advantage. However, the builder will not be taking such a bath that he i~ likely to walk off the Job or go bunkrupt, a real risk for smaller builders.

What arc the disadvantages for cliems? They can occur in the estimating process. The client needs assuram;;e~ that both the estimate and the fee are reasonable. In my office, we compare the costs and the fcc against a database of jobs. If it appears the builder has inflated

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the cost of construction to justify a proportionately higher fee, we encourage the client to move on to another builder.

Clients can dicker over the fcc, but it's really chump change compared to the tOlal cost of the job. Why not give the builder the fee he wants and get him on your side? He may be more inclined to go after reducing costs because he'll still get the same fcc.

Risks for the builder, too Disadliantages for builders arise when they estimate from mcomplete documents, and the client/architect team subsequently inflates the building's quality and complexity as the drawings arc completed. The builder could end up building

VANDE HEY R ALEIGH Mall.r. in th . Arlinr, Dr Roof Til.

commentary ___________ ..;;; __ CON TIN U E D

not the $400,000 house he was shown, hut the S6()(),OOO house the owner and the architect were dreaming of-~Ill fCJT the same markup.

The solution is fur the huilder to in .~ist on change orders,

" Being rigorous about change orders and their effect

on the bottom line is to everyone's advantage. "

including an adjustment to [~

fec when the :<.C()pe of the work is altered. Generally, that means anything that makes the project take longer, but the crumge also may include substantial quality upgrades in materials that

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increase the builder's liability. Being rigorous about change orders and their effect on the bottom line is to everyone's advantagc. lfbuilders insist on it, this kind of contract can make for a goo::x:l deal all around.

In our office, we uwally recommend an old connan (A 117-1987) from the American Institute of Architects (AT A). Over the years, my lawyer added annotations that we believe offer more protection fo r both our clients and their builders.

The current AlA comract designed for cmt of the work plus a f~ is AI 14-2001. The only drawback With this form may be that it incorporates the 40-page A201 "General Conditions," which many people lind to be tOO much material.

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Talk to your attorney. You are signing an important contract.

Robert Knight is an architect and preSident of Knight Associ· ates in Blue Hill, Maine.

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DESIGN PLAN IN A CAN

• Manufactured by Interior Solutions Group . 800-590-2423; www.designplanlnaean.eorn • Cost: 599 per can

For those of us who struggle w colorcoordinat~ our clothing, the growing variety of designer selections available in paint, flooring, cabinets, and countertops can be daunting. The color~challenged builder or homeowner often TUrns to an Inteflor designer who can help to harmonize a household palette-for a price. But not everyone can afford to hire a "good-taste adviser."

Enter Edith Snell, a professional interior d~signer who has d~vdoped Design Plan in a Can, a series of expenly coordinated color collections. Instead of using the tradi~ tional designer board (a bulky display pand on which color chip~ and product ~mples are glued to show the coordi-nat«l effect), Sncll

chose to package her swatches in paint

cam that contain product samples and Jewiled information on using them. Rather than rdy on pricey dC5igner alternatives,

she chose swatches from nationally available brand~.

Sndl currently offers 85 color palettes In e1ght design colh:tions ranging: from trendy island [ones and c1a~ic neutrals to the timeless aesthetic of the 19th-ccnrury Arts and Crafts movement. Each can

contains swatches of flooring, cabinets, cQuntertops, wallpaper, fabrics, and paim colors, along with a recommendation guide that details color placement in every room in a typical house, from floo r to ceiling.

Snell offen each deSIgn palette in three

~(""""""__ levels of finish, includ-ingcmry, moderate, and

luxury humes. If 85 color chuices leave you f~ding daunted,

Snell says you can call for hdp narrowi ng down your

choices by house ~tyle, budget, and region. So far, the Design Plan in a Can

concept has lx:come popular not only with coior--(hallenged homeowners and builders, bue \virh savvy designers, f IX!. "It surprised me wh~n I startex1 shipping cans to dozens of interior designers," Snell says, "but then, [ wish I had had such a simple color solu-tion when r had to spend untold hours developing uniqu~ d~sign sch~mes for every client."

Fernando Pages Ruiz is a builder in

LirKoln. Neb.

fixtures&materials CONTINUED

PREFAB DOESN'T PRECLUDE STYLE

Acc9t, .

VALOR FIREPLACES

• Manufactured by Miles Industries ltd. . 800-468-2567; www.valoriireplac;e.com

• Cost of model shown (Horizon Fend!ilrFire):

about $2200

Air quality in many \\fcstcrn cities and towns increasingly has become an issue. WOCKI-burning

smoke is often the culprit and has resulted in the need for advisories instructing residents nor: to burn wood unless it is theiT only heat source. A~ a result, I've been inst:l ll ing natural-gas fireplaces in the homes r build for a number of years.

Early on, the challenge was finding gas fire-places that did not look like aquariums with a fire inside. Lttely, however, the industry has been producing gas fireplaces (hal not only look great hut alro are capable of serious space heating with a reasonable degree of efficiency.

My favorites arc the Valor fireplaces. They have tnm kih with cast-iron and heavy plate-

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38 1'IN£ HOMEBUILDiNG

Paneling Rtcyd~d Doug Fir

Flooring

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READf'R SERVICE NO. 217

~t~l &~tails that complement the stone, tile, and wood surrounds that r prefer. I avoid cheap decoration and accents .mch as obvious venting grilles and control pands. On Valor modds, , particularly like the screened orx:rahle sted doors because they create a veil over the firebox, masking the subtle manufactured aspect of the heater.

Because Illost of my designs call for a raised hearth, having the controls under the firebox is rarely an issue. Other products on the market allow the possibi lity of a he;uth flush with the floor by locating the control box on a fl exibk lead about 3 ft. or 4 ft. away.

Even though I umally take advantage of the direct-venting (through the wall) feature, I find that creating a "chimney" above the mantd i~ a welcome feature and helps to complete the traditional effect.

Chris Stebbins is a designer and builder in Eugene. Ore.

2307 F Hwy 2 West Grand Rapids , MN 55744

2111·326·6786· www. cbarm~stI!r. tnm


A RAINBOW OF FIBERBOARD COLORS

SPECTRATECH MOF

• Manufactured by Great Lak£>s MDF; colorants developed by BASF (www.basf.com)

. 888-355-4733; www.greatr .. kesmdf.com • Cost: about $62 far a J/._in._thick 4)(8 sheet

Like plain oatmeal, unpainted medium-density fiberbuard is straw--colored and pretty bland. But now that BASF, a leader in the development of color aod adhesive technology. ha~ teamed up with Great Lakes MDF ttl make Spectratech MDF, brightly colored fifx:rhoard panels wiIl hecome standard.

The color rum through the entin~ pand, making it perfect for routing and shaping furniture, trim work, or any other interior project. A coat of varnish reaUy makc:s the color curne to life.

Justin Fink is an assistant editor at Fine Homebuilding.

40 FII\E. HOM~.HL;[LJ)Il\G

Each sheet of Spectrafech MDF has consist9nf color throughout. As these samples show, a coat of varnish really pops the color.

Unique spaces for unique people (and friends).

Tedd and Christine Benson built their home in the

same fashion they design and build all of their clients' homes-with creative flair, attention to individual lifestyles, and smart functionality.

BensonwCK>d homes exhibit world-class craftsmanship, and you'd be amazed at the efficiency with which

we create such top tier spaces. Our combination of expertise, workmanship and innovation is unrivaled. as our process delivers quality and style, while minimizing risk uncertainty, and wasted time. And the

result is always an astonishing home for the whole family, pets included.

PiJ.rtne~for the life you're bui/din/{.

877.203.3562 • www.bensonwood.com


DRESS UP THOSE COLUMNS QUICKLY

Available in two sizes. the yellow brackets fit around 3-io.- to 3'1z-io.-dia. columns; the blue bracket5 (photo right! are designed for 4-in. columns.

E- Z COL U MN

• Manufactured by Scorpion Fa~ten(lr$ Inc . • 800·443-7937; www.mdeelys.com • Cost: $22 (set of 5)

I love the tramformatioo of cold, structural-steel

posts into warm, aesthetically graceful columns. But ooxing them out with drywall or paneling is time-consuming, finicky work that j u~t bcg:s for a fast <lod easy solution. Enter the £-Z Column.

The E--Z CAJlumn hinges at one corner to fit around sted POSb ranging from 3 in. to 4 in. in diameter, and fastens in place with a single countermnk screw. Place the collars over the post at 24 in. on center, and drywall or paneling can Ix: attached directly with finish nails or drywall screws; no additional blocking is required.

Each rla_~tic F.·Z Cdumn also has holes for neatly routing td~phonc, audio, or video wiring where it will stay out of sight. -J.F.

•••• •••• . _ .. ••••

ProdVdS fistad ore produced 01 a corrosion resistant alloyed aluminum with an almtomeric· waterprooFing and anti-frocture cooling cambine<J with on aggregate bondiJ'lg bose. finished malefials. ceramic Iii ... marbla. granikl. ek. can be opplie<J immediately alfer product insto ilotion util izing standard masti" or thin"1oe1. listed p'oducts are supplied witr. walilasteners which may btl used with/without pre-installed wood blocking . Also tty our Floating Shalf"" • (1 tila ready shllil support. for U~ with any RQCas~lt"" unih .

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PERIOD-AUTHENTIC ENTRY HARDWARE

ARCHETYPES

• Manufactun"d by Baldwin Hardware • 888·592·2216; www.archetypes.com • Cost: entry S8t, about 51400; individual

numbers, $75 apiece

As a bit of an Arts and Crafcs groupie, I was struck hy the ro:r.c-pctal embellishmcnt on the keyhole cover ofBaldwm's Archetypes entry lockset. Essentially a Macintosh rose, this recurrent motif in the Craftsman collection was the detail that iced my ~ake.

Substantial piec(:s that are cast from bronze, Archetypes hilrdware comes In scveral distinctive styles (Villa for the budding goth, or

.r:;s FSC

Chateau for those drawn to froufrou). Theentry locbet teams with matching 5-in.-tall house numbers (below) and a knocker to set

the theme for the entire house. The theme is carried through with simil<lrly styled intenor locksets, door pulls, hinges, and even doorbell plates.

Three finishes are available. Aged hrorm:: l~ honey-toned. with highlights rcmini.'lCcnt

of a public sculptun: whO!ic finish has been patinacd by generations

of hands. Dark bronze verges

on black, with me-

tallic grace

notes showing through at high

as you might expc:ct, is less red and more silver-toned.

Beauty has its price. An entry set runs

nearly S1400, more than three times what ~

m)' liht car cost. Individual home numbers ~ • arc $75 a pop, abom what it COSb the~ '0

days to fill up my full-size pl~kup. At that, E" though, a S(:t of cast-brOIl7-C housc numbers ~ will far outlast a couple of tanks of regular. ~

Andy Engel is a former editor "'f Fine Homebuilding .

Advice from our online forum If you haven't visited "Break1:ime, - our online discussion group, then

you're missing OJ! on a fascinating exchange of ideas, advice, and

commentary. Yeu'll find H Breaktime" on owr Web site at WINi_fine

homebuilding. com Listed below are some recent highlights.

Qt? Tips on staining interior trim CREATED BY NONYUP: I have a lot of trim work and

doors to ~tain, and I'm wonde ring if spraying them will give good resutts. Although I want to work quickly .md efficiently, qualtty is more important. The trim Is birch, and the doors are solid pine . Can anyone offe r any tips for !u,II;c;ess?

PO$ted by RW: Spray equipment is the way to go if you have any cares at all about tim!;' con5umptiQn.ln most scenarios, spray guns convert days with a brush into mere hours. Spraymg stam is messy and sticky, and will create quite a cloud indoors, so wear a $5 Tyvek suit and a respirator.

ture finish .. I'm beginning a master-bedroom remodel and would love to knock down the rough ceiling surface, float It smooth, and paint the ceiling white. The 400-sq.-ft .. room has a cathedral ceiling .. Any chance it will look good when I'm done?

Posted by IdahoDon: It's actually pretty easy to do with all -purpose Joint compound. First, use a 2-in. carbide-tipped scraper to knock off any small ridges that stick up from the main surf.1ce. Don't get carried away, though; save your energy for the skimming,

Next, take a 12-in.-wide taping knife and apply Joint compound in a consistent direction. Even though you'll want to, don't change directions, The first CO<lt willlx: very rough, but just let it dry.

The second and third coats arc applied in the same way. rust k~p filling the low ~pots ... \OJ make sure to let them dry eomplt:tdy between coats. Once you're s.."1tisfied, sand lightly, and you're done.

Posted by JDarylh1: That's an excdlent step-bystep post from IdahoDon, rust wondering, though: Wouldn't it he easier and quicker to cover tht: swirled

Posted by Bear: Consider buying an HVLP (high-volume low-prt:Ssure) spray gun. If you huy a turhine unit, which doesn't require a compressor, you will spend from $500 to $800 for a good piece of cquipmcnt that will give you the results you'n. .. looking

" Tn most scenarios, spray guns convert days with a brush into mere hours. "

for. Or you can buy a $50 HVLP conversion gUll, but you will necd a good-size compress.or with a mOIsture separator. It may sound like a lot oflcgwork and money, but you will be looking at thi), trim for the reM of your lifeand will kick yourself every day if you don't do it right.

Posted by Bruce M: I've decided to finish the trim and the doors in my house! by hand simply because spray equipment is very expensivc and likdy would be used only once. With good brushcs and prep work, though, my results have been great so far. It docs take more time, and pros will remmd you ofmis constantly because their training says that time i~ money. But I'm not in it for profit and simply have taught myself to take my time.

How to smooth a swlrlttd skim-coat ceiling CREATED BY JDEV: My 12-year-old Massachusetts co[onial is finished with blue board and skim-coat plaster, but the ceilings are unpainted and have a swirled tex-

48 FIN~. HOMEHU!I.I)INC

ceiling with V+-in. drywall and finish it off normally? Personally, I'd rather work with drywall on a ceiling, even if it mean! having to rent a lift.

Posted by DonCanDo: If you installed drywall, then you'd have to retape the corners where the sheets meet the existing wall-and that would require repainting the walk In an empty room, this method might be faster, but in a hved-m room, it might be a toss-up.

Removing efflorescence from brick CREATED BY PGPROJECT: 1 have to paint the Interior surface of a concrete -block wall that suffere d from severe water penetration for years. That problem Is now fi~ed , but the joints are chalky and "5hedding .. " How do I tre at these areas before painting them?

Posted by DavtlRichtl~on: Efflon:scenee is caused by water washing min<:ral salts out of bricks or blocks. This white staining bccomes visible on the inside or

CONTINUED

outside of the brick when water evaporate~ and leaves mUlt:ral-salt dCp05its behind. Hard deposits generally c,1.n be removed from the oUTside ofhrick or hlock with a mild acid and thorough rinsing, but the acid will etch the surface slightly. If the mlts are 'iOft, they can be re

" White staining becomes visible on brick when water evaporates and leaves mineral-salt

moved mechanically with a wire brush or an angle g rinder.

Controlling water penetration is the key here. Kct:p water out of the block in the future, and you will h:!vc no problems.

deposits behind. " Posted by Wayn.L5:

Masonry-supply houses sell mild acids to Ix used as efflDrescence removers. Diluted muriatic acid can bc used, but it is stronger than needed and presents ftOmc ha7..ards. Vinegar is al~an option.

Posted by Pop: A solution of muriatic acid diluted with water works great. The bri(."k wall and the bucket of diluted acid both should Ix neutralized when you're done with you r work. Neutralize the acid by topcoating

the brick with a mixture ofhaking soda and water; or, if you own a swimming pool, you caD use soda ash mixed wim water instead. \Vhen you're done, slowly mix the baking SCKia or soda ash into the leftover solution until the acid mixture stops bubbling. The leftover substance i~ just mineral salts, which I'm pretty sure ;lren't considered hazardous waste.

Posted by KevO: I'm no expert on waste disposal, bllt I do know that mixing muriatic acid (hydrochloric acin, or HCI) and baking soda (NaHCO) gives you smium chloride (table salt, or "-;lCI), water (HIO), carbon dioxide (CO,), and a lot of heat. Always wear eye prot!X"tion and rubber gloves whcn dealing with these chemic..'l.b, and be sure to add the baking sma or MXIa ash slowly to control the rate of reaction----ht'at and huhhling-unti! al! fizzing stops. Also be sure to leave the container open for a while so that COl pressure doesn't build up.

Interior doors: 15 prehung the way to go? CREATED BY JONE: I have about 20 Interior doors In

my house design and was wondering wIlat you all thought about th. has$l. of building your own jambs

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breaktime CONTINUED

and hanging door blanks versus buying and installing prehung doors. I want to finish the doors and thll trim with luin, but all the prehung options I've seen are finger-jointed junk. Then again, I've never hung a door before, and the thought of all that hinge and lockset work has me twitching. Any thoughts?

" I think prehung doors are less expensive

if you consider your labor cost to be anywhere

near that of a finish carpenter. "

Posted by Bob-Kovacs: fr you're (QIKemeti about ugly finger-jointed wood, buy pn:hung door~ from a real lumberyard ;;0 that you can specify clear j'Hllh~ instead of finger-jointed ones. A prehung jamb will be less costly than the time it takes to

fabricate a jamb, cut the hinge mortises and the lockset, set the stops, and get everything assembled correctly, es/Xciaily if you've never done work like thi~ before.

Posted by YesMaam: If you rcaily want to do the framing and hinge-Selling yourself, go fOr it. Your

6//!) wlrh.n.rtr.Cflve i~~~~~~~~i~;:: ~ elllltiful homes begin wid, a beautiful outdoor deck. American Dry Deck ofkn the perfect 3OIudon for rhe Cll,rom home buiJJ~r crec"tinl( a de~n, dry, nic~ looking living area ben~ath the deck ",hik enhandn~

the beauty and aKhitc-::rore ~~!~~====~:Ii uf the hom~. !

plan should include at least one day to find a book or an article to learn how to do the job, a second day to mess up the first door and reread the articles, and a th ird day in which you likely will meet with success On

that first door. I'm nOt poking fun; it's just that hangmg doors IS not

easy, As you build experience, though, you will be able to crank out two doors In a day. Or you could hang 20 prehung units in two or three days, little or no experience needed.

Posted by IdahoDon: I thin k prehung doors arc less expensive if you consider your labor COSt to be anywhere near that of a finish carpenter. Even in multimi!liondollar homes, it's common to see semicustom or really good-quality stock prehung doors.

Then again, if you have a large amount of free time, making your own jambs would be a great experience, even if you had to do it all with a chisel. I've always encouraged junior carpenters to become really good at morti~ing hinges with a chj~cl before movlOg on to router templates;;o that when the time comes to hang an expensive custom door, they will have the _~kill to get everything right if there isn't a template handy.

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The Most Important

Houses iJ\ me ric a

IF YOU CARE PASSIONATELY ABOUT HOUSES, it',

an arresting question: What are the 25 most import.1m hous

es in America? Inspired by Fin~ Horm:huilding's 25th anni

versary, we've been asking architects, builders, and home en

thusiasts this question for the past year, and it has left a lot

of them transfixed. Given the universe of candidates, com

piling such a list is like pICking 25 stars out of the galaxy.

We chose the "most important" houses (rather than the best

or the most famous) because that phrase casts a broad nct;

T nfluential (whether g()(xi or bad), finely wrought, affordable,

and wdl-intentioned arc all critical qualities that we consid

ered. We put a premium on influence, and find the influence

of somt selections rippling across decades and even centurics.

Some of our picks represent the genius of a great architect or

the pinnacle of the home-building craft. Others serve as arche

types, standing in for thousands of similar homes. And some

aren't individual houses at all, but whole neighborhoods.

In the end, we guarantee that the editors of Archit~ctural

Dig~st would come up with a different list, as would the pro

fessors at the Yale School of Architecture. This is our list,

quintessentially Pint' Hom~builJing.

58 nNE HOMEBUILDING

The first starter home ISAAC SMALL HOUSE, CA. 1780--Cape Cod houses like this one in Truro, Mass.,

are the lovable muns of the arch itectu ra l wo rld: small, economic al, low p ro f ile .

tmd loved by their owners. Th is wal l

flower qua lity and the house's ubiquitous preser'1ce make ide ntifying th e first Cape im possib le, b ut t he Isaac Small house represents t he archetype The signa -

tUfe steep roof is a remnant of English thatched roofs. Anonymously built from 1750 to 1830, Capes were for the working class, but in t he 1920$, architect Royal Barry Wills popularized them as a style equa lly worthy of the wealt l1 y. The Ca p e t hen mo rphed into an affordable modern house and took off in the post

World Wa r II hOUSing boom.

Still going strong after 275 years ASHLEY HOUSE, 1730-The colonial house is an American icon that has inspired everything from tract houses to McMan· sions to modern-day timberframe homes. Colonials were the first step toward a distinctly American architecture. Based on classical Greek design and English traditions, this new-world style was adapted for the climate and the available materia ls, tools, and building skills. Built by John Wells in Deerfield, Mass., the Ashley House e .... hibits many qualitie s of this enduring archetype, with a symmetrical facade , a modified gambrel roof, and the visible history of the owners in the additions to the rear of the house , in this case both a story-and-a-half lean to and a more formal ell. The carved broken pediment was a popular flourish in the Connecticut River valley.

Open to the public www.historic-deerfield ,org; 413-774-5581

SPRING/SUMMER 2006 59

IT WAS NEVER DONE MONTICELLO-Thomas Jeff.,. son constantly refined hIs labor of love. Begun in 1768, the house wu nearly complete by 1789 when he retumed to Charlonesville, Va., from Paris and removed the second itoI)' to add a domed roof and octagonal rooms. Influenced by the clan.ical work of 1 6th-ce'ltul)' arch,teet Andrea Palladia, Monticello broke from the English colon~r !nil'

ditlon to accommodate Jefferson's tifntyl. rather than represllnt hIS

_lIlth. Monticello's practical architecture, emphasis on horizontal line5. and focus on outdoor living Influenced American design ell the

way to Frank Uoyd Wright.

Open to the publiC >M>IW monticelio.arg. 434-964-9800

A LIFETIME'S WORK ESHERICK HOUSE AND STUOIO

Tramed as a painter ilnd skilled as 8 woodworker, owner/builder Wharton Esherick spent a lifetime cre~ting his vision of home in Paoli,

Penn. He applied his boundless energy and artiSt's touch to ellery square inch, including a two-story rClinbow-color~d silo, handmade copper ,mh, and a §tillifway that res.embles CI DNA strand.

Open to the public 610-644-5822

60 FINE HOMEBUILDIKG

The mother of all trophy homes BILTMORE, 1889- Eat your heart out , Donald Trump l With 250 rooms a nd more than

174,00 0 sq. ft. , George Vanderbilt's Asheville, N.C.. chateau still ranks as America's

largest home. DeSign ed by Richard Morris Hunt, the f irst American graduate of the

Beaux-Arts School in Paris, the mansion was bui lt on 125 .000 acres landscaped by Fred

erick Law Olmsted . Intended as a display of Vanderb ilt 's worldliness, Bi ltmore was con

SpiCUOUS consumption o f a sca le that can be seen as the shifting o f American values

from Thomas Jefferson's inalienable right

to the pu rsuit of happiness to the industrial captain'S inalienable r ight to the pursuit of wealth Even Vanderbilt's own forester, Gif

ford Pinchot, flinched at the scale of the mansion: "As a feudal castle, it would ha .... e been

beyond criticism, and perhaps beyond praise.

But In the United States of tho 19th century and among t he o ne- room cabins of t he

Appalachian mountaineers, it did not belong. The contrast was a devastating commentary

on the injustice o f concentrated wealth."

Ope., to the public www.biltmofe.(:om; 600·624·1575

"As a feudal castle, it would have been beyond criticism, and perhaps beyond praise,"

A brief history of the shingle style

High cia!> board & batten ROSELAND COTT.t.GE. 1848-Although designed by Joseph

Collin Wells, this summer home in Woodstock, Conn., OWIU Its existence to Andre w Jackson Downing and his best-selling plan book Cottage Residences, which popularized the style. Downing'. books promoted utilitarian plans and picturesque design that emphasized wood construction as a matter of choice rather than necessity. The board·and·batten siding and decorativtt barg.boards are hallmarks of the ~stick style" from which the shingle style emerged. Th. verandas suggesting "summer enjoyment and winter protection" continued the integration of indoor and outdoor space where Thomas Jefferson left off.

Open to the pl.lblic .,.,..,.,-w,h isto!"icnewengiand.org; 86()..928-4{)74

Shmgle style 15 born WATTS SHERMAN HOUSE, 1875-

Designed by Henry Hobson Rich· ardson. this elegant, towering wedding ~ke of a house in New· port, R.I., launched the shingle style. Richardson spent the Civil War in Paris studying architecture. and the Sherman house shows the European Influence of the Queen Anne style. Reminiscent of a medieval manor house orthe utilitarian "hall" of the American colonia[ period, the Sherman house is organized around a large central stair hall that dominate, the floor plan . But it is also uniquely Ameriun. The prom· inent sweeping ga · bles and horizontal rows of windows that mitigate the building 's height became a defining theme of the shingle style, The stone first story gives way to half·timbered

and stucco panels on the second story and shingles on the third story. creating a wonderfully lay. ered texture that is grounded to the site and becomes lighter as it rises. Richardson was aided in the design by a young assistant, Stanford White, whom he hired to replace Charles McKim. Richardson and those under his tutelage shaped the architectural landscape of the dosing decades of the 19th c;:entury.

W.G.lOW HOUSE, 1S87-Ask a 6-yearold to draw a house, and chanc;:e, are he' ll draw a big gable form. Not what you'd expect from the nation's leadIng architects, but Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White's repeated experiments with gables culminated in a massive roof endos· ing the entire Low h(M.Is. in an iconic silhouette. The Bristol, R.I., hous. 's strong, defining gable, unpainted shingles. large porch. and flowing floor plan around a central hall were signature elements of a style that the architects thought of as "modern colonial" and that art historian Vincent Scully later christened the "shingle style."

SPRING/SUMMF.R 200 /\ 61

25~~rtant ~~=~. Hou~~

From bunkhouse to Bauhaus GREGORY FARMHOUSE, 1928-Simple. Sturdy. Plain

Functional. By embracing vernacular architecture. Wil

liam Wurster's design was belittled by some as "shanty style" and commended by o thers for looking as jf it

were produced "by a carpenter with good taste ." His client loved the Scotts Valley, Calif., house, and so do we

W urster turned economy into

a virtue in this unadorned

ranch house. You can see the western, working roots of

the modern ranch in the long veranda, the L-shaped floor

plan framing a courtyard. and the low-slung horizontal massing . The emphasis on local materials and t he sens itive

siting of th e house became hallmarks of San Francisco Bay Area designers . Wurster's

5parc- dc-tailing was moderni5m in disguise; glow

ing review5 in Sunset

and House Beautiful popularized the style that two decades later

would be ubiquitous, from Cliff May's south

ern California ranches to Levittown's fast-selling

Long Island versions.

Ultimate bungalow

GAMBLE HOUSE. 1905-Craftsman-style houses

began with the Greene brothers. Charles and Henry Greene, working with wealthy clients in the e"hil .. r .. ting .. ir of P .. sadena, Calif., per

fected their vision of houses tailored to their sites. They designed total environments. from the landscaping to the light fixtures, leadedglass windows, and furniture (even the piano),

and had them built by master craftsmen. Every square inch of the rounded teak beams, corbels, .. nd mahog .. ny p .. neling in the Gamble House is polished to a luster that ~gs touching. Incredibly, the Greenes' rn.'Isterpiece h .. sn't changed . When the house nearly was sold in the 194Os, prospective buyers were overheard

talking about painting everything white. To our good fonune, the house became a museum.

O;l(!n to the public www.gamblehouse.org; 626·793·3334

The romance of tent living SCH INDLER-CHASE HOUSE, 1921-Before the California lifestyle swept the nation 's imagination, Rudolf Schindler incorporated southern California's glorious weather into his own

West Hollywood house. A glass wall in each room opens onto a courtyard, garden, or patio, and the roof features two openair sleeping "baskets." The interlocking geometric forms, the visible structure, the lack of any ornamentation, the use of

naked concrete (including tilt-up concrete walls) as an interior finish material, and the extensive use of glass are hallmarks of

the International Style.

Open to the publ;c Viw\ ..... MAKcenter.or~; 323-651-1 Sl 0

"Every square inch of the rounded teak beams is polished to a luster that begs touching."

" "INfo: HOMEBUILDING

CYRUS McCORMICK JR. HOUSE, 1931-The misfortune of promising young New York City banker J ohn Gaw M(KIm, who contracted tuberculosis, was the architectural world's gain. While seeking a cure in the high desert of Santa Fe, N.M., Meem fell in love with the emerging Spa nish. revival architecture and shortly became the Santa Fe style's defining practitioner. Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Meem didn' t embrace modernism's "machine for living" style: he deligned pic· tures que buildings like those popularized by Andrew Jackson Do wning's pattern books nearly a century earlier. Meem freely

picked from the Bea ux·Arts and Mode rnist practices to create a floo r plan that accommodated the client's lifestyle. Then, for the exterior, he'd revise sketChes, choosing from among Spanish. Mexican, and Pueblo ante· cedents for a look that satisfi ed the si te. As a result, the McCormick house, o ne of Meem', best projects, incorporates period archi tec· tural artifacts such as carved doors and rustic cellings. The house spreads out In a low.tying. modified H-shape to capture stunning views indoors and out. The pleasantly asymmetrical massing. moving from lawn to patio to house to varied roofline, is trademark Meem.

~ , 00 o 0-

MAIL-ORDER HOUSE SEARS KIT HOUSE-If a Midwestern farmer could order the same

living-room set as a Brooklyn, NY, housewife. shouldn't he be able to order the same house? Sears pion<l()(sd manufactured housing by

shipping homebuyers two boxcars

of precut lumber, appl iar\ces, and hardwa re along with blueprint'S

and a 75-page manual complete with the admonishment ~Carpeo

ters must /lot cut this material. ~

Catalog sales made well·built, well· de~lgned ~saffordableto mo~

than 100,000 Amencan famI lies.

AFFORDABLE HOME JACOBS I HOUSE-In Fine Homehuilding, you can fioo W'811-designed

small hou5es with open plans, effi

cient fram ing techniques, and radiant-lioor heating. Although

they're common now, F(ank Lloyd Wright introduced these concepts to bui ld affordable and distinctive

homes for the middle class. The

Jacobs house 0 Madison, Wis. Vias the fi~t Usonian house; It'S signature L-shape created a pnvate

bedroom wing and a publiC wing

where formal living and dining rooms vanished to make way for the new concept of casual liviog.

By setting the hO<.lse In a corne, of

the lot as dose to the street as posSIble. Wright used the Inside angle

of the floor plan to create hIS most

important ~room" the courtyard .

SPRI NG/SUMMER 200(, ••

25~~rlant _ _ -"'~ H~~

America's most famous house FALLINGWATER, 1938-Frank Lloyd Wright's mas

terpiece has bcC'n berated as a leak-prone, structurally insufficient, pretentious pile of boxes despoiling a perfectly good creek, and has been praised as the ultimate marriage of modernism and orgar'lic archi

tG'cture. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Even

though it didn't spawn a generation of cantilevered look-<llikes, Wright's Fallingwater instantly became the

archetypal American house of the future. Located ill Bear Run, Pa., the home's daring cantilevered terraces

challenged other deSigners to push the limits of their materials and their imaginations.

Open to the public www.paconserve.org; 724-329-8501

In partnership with nature

64

HEDGEROW HOUSES, 1966- Architect Joseph Esherick wasn't interested in creating a popular style of house at Sea Ranch, north of San Francisco. He wanted a symbiotic relationship between the house, the site, and the elements, By sinking these seven houses into the ground so that the meadow grasses come up to the windows, he kept the houses low enough to mini-

mil.e their impact on the coastal views. Matching the roof pitches to the angle of the windswept trees was more than a cue from the landscape; tests determined that these slopes most effectively deflected the relentless wind, creating a peaceful eddy for a sunny patio. The look caught on, resulting in rows of shingle-clad sheds on rulerstraight streets around the country.

A tale of two seaside communities

A return to the idea of neighborhood SEASIDE, 1986- Although it's not a house, or even a particular architectural style, the town of Seaside, Fla., makes our Jist because of Andres Ouany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberi<'s pioneering urban planning. It's also our only selection to have starred in iI movie (The Truman Show). New Urbanism was launched here With the intent of saving the country from the American dream run amok, by combining the suburban ideal of a

FINE HOMEBUILDING

personalized, detached single-family house with the diversity, c.onvenienc.es, and culture of urban living. The pedestrian-<entric building codes encourage neighbors to get to know each other and to leave the car behind because stores, schools, and parks are within a five-minute walk of each house. New Urbanist developments have spread nationwide and soon may reshape the hurrican9-ravaggd Gulf Coast.

Concrete, when concrete wasn't cool WALLEN II HOUSE, 1937-ln 1692, Bernard Calif., for his son, is a catalog of Maybeck-Maybeck began to cast a spell over the arch

itecture of the San Francisco Bay Area that was so powerful, it continues to this day. His

rlistlessly eclectic exploration of style induded houses that resemble Pompeiian vilias,

Viking lodges, and Tudor manorSj innovation was the common drumbeat of each project.

Maybeck had an affinity for new building materials and systems, and his designs c::onstandy journeyed into uncharted territory. The Wallen house, built in Costa County,

approved materials and contrasting elements. The three-layer cast-concrete walls, with rice-hull insulation in the center, present a first line of defense on the fire-prone site_

Crimson-red shiel-sash industrial windows

frame views of the Golden Gate Bridge and shine like cut gems against th9 rough walls. The monumental forms were inspired by

17th-century Jacobean houses, and a Model T radiator is part of the home's forced-air heating system.

$57 A MONTH LEVITTOWN RANCH-Suilders offering solid, 10'o';-cost houses to returning Gis and their families couldn't miss_ In just five years, using military construction techniques and supply methods, Abraham Levitt and his sons turned 4000 acres of potato fie lds into a 17 _500-dwelling neighborhood, The distinction between Levittown ,anc::hes ~nd Capes seems to have been a marketing effoM_ BorrowIOg freely from Frank Lloyd Wright, both styles turned their bad_s to the street,

had large picture windows in the real, and included stand~rd builtins such as a TV set in the wall,

FIRST GLASS HOUSE FARNSWORTH HOUSE-Dr. Edith Farnsworth's secluded 58-acre site

in Plano, III., was the perfect location tor Ludwig M,es van de, Rohe to express his less-is-more design philosophy_ Usir)g the engineering characteristics 01 concrete, steel, and glass to their fullost, he stripped away aMifice and decoration to create the biHest of structures, seamlessly blending indoors and out, Philip Johnson's glass house was built earlier, but he cribbed Mies's drawings.

Opon te the public www.fafnsworthhouse.erg; 630-552-0052

Sl'RTNCi/SUMMF,R lOOn 65

Toward a sustainable future

The birth of green TIff

Solar spec UNIT ONE, 1976- During the energy

crisis ofthe 19705, enterprising homeowners turned to the sun and started a movl:tment that now may be more

important than ever. Many early solar homes were owner-builder projects that

looked like NASA's Skylab, but arch

itect Walter Lumpkins gave Unit One {also known as the Balcomb house} an

adobe style that helped to capture the public's imagination. Santa Fe, N.M.,

was a hotbed of solar design during the 19705 because of its sunny, cold climate, adobe architecture, proximity

to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, incentives for homeowners and builders,

and the presence of Walter Lumpkins. The Balcomb house was one of more than 100 paSSive-solar spec houses built in the Santa Fe area by deyelopers Wayne and Susan Nichols. Owners of these houses rayed that the comfortable, maintenance-free heating cost $60 to $200 annually (while neighbors in traditional homes paid more than $1000). The design was the subject of solar seminars around the country, until declining energy costs and research dollars caused interest to dry up. With energy costs on the rise today, what's old may soon be new again.

INTEGRAL URBAN HOUSE. 1973-When most people refurbish a bathroom in a century-old Berkeley, Calif., Victorial'l, they choose the newest fixtures; in this eco-minded group house, they installed composting toilets and solar hot water. Remodeled by architect Sim van der Ryn and a team of engineers and biologists as an experiment in urban self-sufficiency, this house was their attempt at balancing all the Inputs and outputs of modern living as part of a single integrated system. By testing strategies for sustainable living and reporting their real-world experiences, they offered choices for those willing to rethink the consumption our standard of living demands.

., __ M_1 ... __ .. __ _

"In this eco-minded

group house, refurbish

meant composting toilets and solar hot

water." -..... ......... ...

FINE HOMEBUILD ING

Design with a conscience HARRIS (BUTIERFLY) HOUSE, 1997-50metimes it's important to remember tnat great houses are not about the architect or even about the development of an architectural style. The most important house is the one that shelters you. Sam Mod:bce believed that. He also believed that architecture was about civic engagement and sustainable bUild ing.

WR IGHT GUEST HOUSE, 1987-Stately and reassuring as they are, America's early colo· nial houses looked as though they were cata· pulted across the Atlantic to land on a lonely frontier. James Cutler's Wright house, on the other hand, comes out of the ground homegrown. The site is near Seattle, in a rain forest of firs and cedars. The house stands on the shoulders of the Northwest style, known

So each year, he set out with a cast of AlJburn

University architecture students to enricl1 the

lives of some of the country's poorest sou ls by

building them a 110use. The Rural Studio pro

gram creates unmistakably Southern housos with donated. salvaged, and recycled materials, including plain curiosities. Participants

have built roofs with outdated road signs and surplus Impa la windshields, and walls with old

tirl'!s, hay bales, and carpet remnants-and

they've done it with style and a sensitivity to

the local vernacular, all while keeping ownership costs low. In Hale County, Ala., the Harris

house features a dramatic, fanciful roof over

the screened porch where an elderly couple spends their days. The roof channels cooling breezes to the house and diverts rainwater to

a cistern for use in the toilets and laundry.

for unfinished wood paneling, big windows, a timber-frame structure, and generous eaves. To this palette, Cutler has added the geological element of eroded concrete and has cleaved spatial inflections that draw the eye toward the house like a magnet. Tucked between the trees and cradled by a wall, the house inspires protection of the land, green building of the first order.

Supersize my house McMANSION-Althovgh we can't be sure who built the first Mc

Mansion back in the 19805. Toll

Brothers certainly has proliferated the style and has made trophy homes affordable to the moder

ately wealthy. The role of national luxury-home building companies

these days is less that of a tradi

tional builder than of a marketing

f irm hawking the bling of stone facades, soaring two-story entries,

expansive master-bedroom suites, and three--SUV garages. The success of luxury-branded homes

Toll Brothers alone buill nearly

9000 houses last year and has another 83,000 lots in its in~en

tory---has altered the current sub

urban landscape. This success is

likely to have a future ripple effect

when the current owners become

empty nesters who tire of rattling around their enormous homes,

and McMansions become the teardowns of the day.

WHAT'S MISSING? What impor1Mt house have we incredibly oyeriook&d? Let UI know on our discussion forum, Breaktime, at www.finehomebuilding.com.

FOfTTl~ a:UOciate editor and new dad Sean Groom researched and wrore dlis article with help from specalISSUes edito( Charles Mille~

SPRIT'O/SUMMER 2006 "

A I igh-

BY CHRISTOPHER BRILEY

It's easy to blame builders for being too conservative and tOO C!l. miOlls,

for usi ng only materials and tech~ niques they already know. But

that simply Iso't true. Builden. lik e architccr.~, arc constrained by the marketplace.

ror ma ny people, the first step in buying a house is to check real-atate listings. Few peopic build new homes, and even fewer hire dO

architect II) hdp them. It takes a courageous client to be the fi r\ t [o!lign up for a new type of conSl ruclion. and a courageous bU ilder lO put a price on a technique that he or ~he ha5 never (riet.!. AI> a resuh, builders bUi ld what sells. and buyers buy what's olTereJ . Ilavin~ expe rienced this phenomenon a~

an archItect, I was ddight~1 10 be imroouced to Josh Fcdorka of Symphony Construction, who with real-estate broker Mony Hang had formed Grecn Qua lity Homes. They were jumping into an aggrc:ssjvc market filr singlefamily housing in the Portland, M;!.ine, area, with plans for a healthful and efficient house th:H could compete wit h conventionally huilt ~pec houses. Together. we built our first house, wh ich W~ call ed Harmrmy Housc, and SQld it by the end of2004.

The value of good design

The idea th,H building an energy-dficient home is more cxpensiyc than buildIng;!. convemional one is a myth. With energy prices on

68 FINe !!()MEtlUtLDI:-lG

During the winter, the south-facing solClrium generates heat for the rest

the risc, it's actually much more costly if you don'T OOild an efficient home. As we dcvclop:::d plans for Harmony House, we imagined taking potential buyers on a tour and showing them how much hou~ th9 could get for the money-and then adding that they'd save: between 40% and 70% on their utility bills.

That's fine for the long run, but what about construction costs? This house cost approximatd), 1350.000 to build; at 2200 sq. ft., that's about 5160 per sq. ft. The house has an insulated, ready-to-flnish basement and a two-car garage with a storage loft for future expansion. [n our area, th .. t price is very competitive.

The market is rcady for a change. It's not about how big a space is, or how precious the materials arc. It's about how sensible the space is, how it enhances our everyday lives, and how it impacts our future.

Making spaces effic.ient, not big

Our strategy started with the basic shape, orientation, and size of the hou:;e. First, the house is only as large as it needs to be, mean-

ing that each space IS fully functional without using more room (and materials) dum it ne<::ds to. All too often, I see spec houses with rooms that are too big or that don't justify their cost; formal dining r<x>ms, big entries, and sprawling living rooms come to mlOd. We used that money instead for improving the quality and the effiCiency of rooms that are truly needed.

We deSigned Harmony House for professionals in theiT 30s with families, busy people who like a camal, modern lifestyle. To us, this meant an open floor plan with just enough r.cparation octwccn spaces to maintain order. It also meant having a dining room that could be OOth casual and formal, and a single entrance used by family and guests alike.

Then there's orientation. Living areas are on the south side of the house to take advantage of natural daylight and a passive-solar design. Utility spaee.~-stairs, entry, baths, and laundry-are on the north side, where the number of windows is at a minimum. A lYi-story design adds square footage efficiently and creates charming second-story

Th. kiteh . " 1$ in th. mlddl • . Located at a major crossroads on the first floor, the kitchen is the hub that connects living room, dining room, and solarium. Double doors to the left open on a 6·ft.·wide by 1·h .·d&(lp pantry. Photo taken at C on floor plan.

spaces that are appealing and expressive of the structure of the house.

Take advantage of free heat with a passive-solar design

The sun offers fr~e light and heat every day, whether we want it or not. I'm amazed by how the ~pec-home market generally ignores this op]Xlrtunity, rdying instead on house orientation dictated by the street and the driveway.

Harmony House has a deuched garage that could be placed almost anywhere withOUt altering the plan dramatically. Therefore, the house could be built on a variety of sites and still have the best possible orientation toward the sun. A south-facing solarium IS a key part uf the design (lacing pagel.

Flat-plate solar coll~ctors mounted on the roof function as part of a Viessmann solar hot-water system, which provides a[mo~t all th~ domestic hot water for Harmony House:. The water is stored ina lOG-gal. tank. We estimate the solar collectors will pay for themselves in nine years; with a 25-year warranty,

Photos taken llt lettered positions,

Liv ing room

Kitchen

C~

Dining room

... Entry

•

First floor

Up

Garage

Mutt'r bedroom

0

Master bath

KEY TO COMFORT A south-facing solarium soaks up the sun and helps to heat th@ house during Maine's long winters. In summer, the homeowners install shades and open the solarium's skylights to disSipate heat and to keep the rest of the house cooler. On the roof above the solarium, 8-ft.-long solar panels take care of all domestic hot-water needs. Photo left taken at D on floor plan; photo above taken at E.

SPECS

-,-BlKiroom'; 3

I

i :I::~::S;:_~. Cost: $160 per sq. ft .

Completed: 2004

Location; Freeport, Maine

Architect: Christopher Briley

Builder: Symphony Construction

• North 024 8 ft.

~'\ c

, Storage loft ~ ~~H'''-'

.",

~ ......-' ~ Second floor

0 Bedroom

bL SPRI NG/S U MMER 2006 "

72 FIl\'h HOMhIlUIL()ING

th<lt's. equ ivalent to at ICdSI I() rears of free hO{ waler.

The' healing system also was deslgnal to Ix efficient because in M<line,a 30" u~mperalure swing in a 24-hour period IS not uncommon H eat is del ivered b)' radian t concrete floors on all three: level" of the house (including the basement), and the propane hOlier IIlns a l

94% efficiency. Although gas may be a more expensive fud than heating oil, it burns morc d eanly and can he vented direcTly throll~h a w:!lI, saving the c){pcme of an addinonal nIle In the chimney.

A tig ht, wcll~imul;lIed bui ldi ng envelope I~ essc",ial Tn nur cl imate, hUI a tlghl hUlld· in~ often rai$CS air--quality Issues. cspecially during cold month~ when the hou~ is but· toned up. Our solut ion is a R('newAl r(' energy-recovcry ventilator that heats and humid ifies incoming air with exhaust air via a blulHn heat exchan,gcr.

Other measurcs were taken to ensure high indoor-air quality. For example, we separated thl" garage from the house to keep dirt and fumes out of the living spaces. In th(' basement, the combination of a heated ~Iah and

a wcl l-i mulated foundation d im ioates the risk of mold or mildew. We aho took care to choose products that were low in toxins and to avoid products, such as carpet, that outgas chemicals or promote biological activity.

Renewable materials made without formaldehyde adhesives More huilding materials ;lre on the market than eve r, anrlluckily for all of m, there seems to be a shift toward environmentally friendly ones. For exam ple, the sheathmg and I-joists we used arc AdvanTech, one of the few oriented-strand-board products that does not outgas formaldehyde. We also used bamboo flooring because of an absence of formaldehyde. Bamboo IS a rapidly rcnewable resource, and the floori ng was available at an attractive price (S.3."iO per sq . ft.).

The countertops, which are PaperStone made by Klip Tech, look like slate but actually arc made from 100% post-<:onsumer paper

suspended in a phenolic resin derived from cashew-n ut oil. P.1perStone em ~ Cllt and worked like wood, in the field or in the shop.

For the exterior, we used a combination of fiber-cement siding and Maibec primed white-cedar shingles, which arc certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and are both durable and ~autifuL The flashing is made of copper. NO{ only is it attractive, but It's produced from 95% recycled material. n

Architect Christopher Briley is principa l architect of Green Design Studio in

Yarmouth, Maine. This project was designed in conjunction with TFH Architects. photos by Brian Vanden Brink.

1/1 W U

'" ~ o 1/1

AdvanTecn sh. athing

and floor system

Huber Enginet.'red Woods www.huberwood.com; 800-933-9220

Bamboo flooring

Fair Pacif ic Bamboo Flooring

W'WW.fairpacific.eom

877-633-5667

Cellulose insulation

Nu-Wool; www.lluwool.com 800-748-0128

cavities are fillftd with dftnsf'-pack cell ... lose iM(1lation,

Exterior wa!ls are strapped Inside .and -----i out to minimize thermal bridging.

Airtight drywall in lieu of II

polyethylene va por barrier

Radiant-slab i,

Interior perimf'ter drain is connected to II stack vent for radon mitigation.

Eastern white -ced a r shingles

Maibec; www.maibec.com

418-659-3323 (Canada)

800-932-9663 (U.S. distributor. Coastal Forest Products)

Energy-recovery ventilator

RenewAire; www.renewaire.com

800-627-4499

Fireplace

Fireplace Xtrordinai,

www.firep!acextrordinair.com

A HIGH · PERFORMANCE EXTERIOR ENVELOPE

This passive-solar house in Maine carries its OWnf'rs through long winters with ease. Balloon framing that minimints thermal bridging, dense-pack cellulose insulation, and radiant-floor heating all are part of the package.

Fifty-year Elk asphalt $hingles. warranted fcr an l,irlvented -hor N roof, are instil /jed cver formaldehyde·free ,heMhing.

balloon fr.amin9 cr~ata5 a continuo ... ~ thormal envelope from fO(1ndation to raftef$.

Double rim-joist ledger notched into Willi $tuds

Whlte-<eda, 5hln91e5 are installed over Home SlickaF. a polYIHhylene me5h that allows airflow beneath.

Insulating concrete-form foundation has an R-lia/ue of 23.

Bitu m inou s-memb ra ne damp-proofing by Resino

Slilb vapor barrier

4-in. high-density-polyethylene drain nne in crushed stone and filter fabriC

'--- Brush-on waterproofing

Gas boiler Trinity; www.thermoflo.com

Hot-wate r so lar panels

and tank

Viessmann

www.lliessmann-us.com

800-387-7373

Solid-surface counte rto p

PaperStone

KlipTech Composites www.kliptech.com 360-538-9815

SPRING/SUMMER 2()Ob 73

CUTE LITTlE BUILDING WITH TWO HUGE ASSETS

Tucked between two "grown-up" apartment buildings on a skinny city lot, this house finds spac~ for an underground garage by setting it back from the street below grade. Out back is a comfortable yard that's a haven for cookouts and playing with the kids. Photo above ti!ken at A on floor plan; photo facing page taken at B.

74 FINE HOMEBUlLDING

ex Grows in BY JI LL AND JOHN BOURATOGlO U

s a pair of young architects with two small children liv ing in Brooklyn, N.Y., one of the most expensive realestate markets in the country, we found ourselves in a homing dilemma: We couldn't afford S1.5 million for a

brownstone, nor could we squeeze much more timc out of the twobedroom apartment we'd occupied ~ince before the kids were born. Our sollllion was to look fur a vacant lot somewhere in the city and to huikl our own hOll!)C.

After squeezing two more years Out of our small aparLment, we found a long, skinny, irregularly shaped lot. Thc 25-ft. by 116-ft. lot was located on the edge ora brownstone neig-hborhood, adjacent to some commercial buildmgs that quickly wen~ being converted to residential use. The neighborhood was aoout to blo:,w11l,

Duplex cuts the mortgage in half With a tight lot,a tighter time line, and a tightening budge;:t, we did as much oUTsclvesas pos..~ible. Although we had desIgned lotsofhous.es, we had never built one before. We researched and boughtonline many of the compone;:nts and materials for ou r house (sidebar p. 79). Besides the masonry, electrical, and plumbing subcontractors, the UPS and Federal Express dnvers were key members of our building team.

Installing the drywall, laying the tile, and painting the walls ourselves saved money in the short term. But it was OUf deCISIon to desig-n

Master bedroom

-•

SJ'IO/'iGlSUMMER 75

Coloring these I

..... ,

Color ma kes big walls cozier, With color on both

sides, the white wall draws the eye toward the back-

yard view. Photo right takan at C on floor plan. Rather than unifying win

dows, doors, walls, and floors with baseboard and casing, the authors chose

To isolate them with metal drywall reYea/s (photo

below), Square cutouts in the half-wall, which echo

window placement, are for inevitable bulb changes in

the hanging lamps. Bot-Tom photo taken at D on

floor plan .

76 FINE HOMF.RUlJ.D1NG

walls channels attention to the view of the backyard.

the house as a duplex that has htlpcd with the mortgage. Plus, the rental apartment will continue to be a source of income after the mortgage is paid off.

Off-street parking in the city is worth its space In gold Another major consideration in our J~sign wa~ parking. Many N~w Yorkers don't own car5 because there i5 nowhere to park them affordably; those who do routinely pay $3,000 a year for ofl-str~et parking. By squ~e7.mg a garage mto th~ plan, w~ w~ r~ ahl~ to avoirl a parking bill and raise the value of our house 5ignificantly.

To find space for a garage, we designed the house backward. Rather than starting with a floor plan and then working into a section drawing, we began with a cro;;s section showing how far back from the streel we could locate a garage below grade and still have a driveway

that wasn't too sleep (drawing p, 74), Unfortunatdy, every inch that we ~et thc:: house back alc up an inch of our hackyard, which is another precious commodity in the city, Setting the house 1xICk frum the street, however, ultimately benefited both our neighhors and us: It kept our house from being monstrously taU; it allowed more natural light into the neighboring co-op aparunem building; and it reduced rh~ sightl im:_~ from ou r living room into OllT other neighbor'~ rear carriage house.

By keeping the ceiling height in the garage to a minimum (8 ft.) and setting the apartment un top, we derived the ceiling height in the living room. Our front entrance is at the same leyd as the garage <lnd leads into:1 mudroom, upa few stairs, and into a large, open, doubleh~lghf livtn,W'dininglkitehen area (floor plans right). The master bedroom/office overlooks this main room, and thrc::e skyliglns aligned

THE HOUSE ENVELOPS AN APARTMENT

Tucked abo .... the garagfl and below the kids' bedrooms, a one-bedroom apartment occupies the front third of the house. Behind it, the open plan of the main-floor li ... ing area is defined by ceiling heights. This openness continues upstairs to the master bedroom/office, which is open to below over a half-wall.

, •

SPECS

B.cIrooml: 3 (house) + 1 (apartment)

Bathrooms: 2V:t (house) + 1 (apartment)

Size: 1950 sq. ft . (house) + 500 sq. ft. (apartment) + 400 sq . ft. (garage)

COlt : $135 per sq . ft.

Th, colored are.u: ( . J denote that floor'. living space.

Apartment

Bedroom

Completed: 2005

location: Brookl~n, N.Y.

ArchltKt: Bouratoglou Architect, PC

Builder: John Bouratoglou and I.E.B. General Contracting Corp.

Kitchen C+

Second floor

\ ,living 'o~

Firlt floor

Mechanical room ,----r-vm[JF----, .... _---

Up Garage Cr;JWlsplJC9

"Closet

Basement

North ..

Photos taken at o 5 \0 20 ft. kittered positions.

Sl'R I:"<G/SUMMER 2006 77

-A

Simple strategy for oil drflollffllined look. ReceS$ing the applianccs into the wall emphasizes their steel facades and hides their bvlk. Cream-colored walls sohen the black, white, and gray palette typical of modem design. Photo taken at f on floor plan.

over three bays of windmvs hring in natural light and estahlish a connection to the backyard from lxJth floors.

Modern materials, classical proportions John grew up in Athens, Gre<:ce, and has hem intluenceJ gn:~atly by dassical architecture. Although not directly apparent in our home, the exterior proportions are nenven from rhe classical modd of the Parthenon. The front and rear facades are divided into three sections using the base, shaft, and capital proportions found in classical orders. Wc emphasJzed the prop<Jrtions by framing them with minimalist materials, the same way the Parthenon '$ shapes are punctuated with white marble. Instead of white marble, though, we chof>( fiber-cement hoard in keeping with our "modern cla~ical" 5Cheme-and our lilllited budget.

Outside, the windows and thei r cement-board surrounds arc recessed inTO the brick facade, creating shadows that reinforce the simple shape5. The interior approach is the saille. Rather than using

78 FIJ'.:F. HOMF.RUlI.O ING

haseooard and casing to unify floors, walls, window~, and doors, we used reveals and aluminum J-channd to separate them. In the kitchen, appliances arc recessed into the walls to highlight their facades while minimizing their \'i~ual weight.

ikcause the walls are 50 ft. long and 25 ft. ta!!, the modern architectural palette of black, white, and gray lust wouldn'T work on them . Coloring these large \valls enlivens them and also frames a vIew of the backyanl. Our color choices are typical of what you see when ta.king in this view: hlue and green. The white is the white.~t whi te we coul.l find.

Although this house seems to be a jumble: of architectural thoughts spanning from ancient to modern times, for us it's really a culmi nation. Our goa l was to achieve (we hope:) the claSSical adage "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." 0

J il l and John Bouratoglou teach and practice architecture in

Brooklyn . N.Y. Photos by Rar)dy O'Rourke.

THE HOUSE THAT FEDEX BUILT

By Jill Bouratoglou

After teaching classes at New York City College of Technology, updating and revising the drawings for the house, making site visits, and being a mom, I found myself with 10 hours left in the day for material selections and purchases: from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Because local distributors weren't open during those hours, j turned to online retailers, where I purchased everything from the flooring to the fans. I found great prices, tracked the shipping online, and had everything delivered dir&tly to the job site without ever leaving home.

While all of the Web sites listed below were useful, the Hakatai tile site (www.hakataLcom) was a

pleasant surprise. It allowed me to design a custom blend of mosaic tiles for the first-floor powder room. I could choose the percentage of each color and see a diagram of the design online within seconds. I kept changing the percentages until J was happy with the mix (or until I could no

Coolest online finds. On www.h .. katai.com. you can blend glass tiles in customized mosaics, murals, borders, and tile rugs. Playful and useful, the ceiling fans in the kids' bedrooms also were found online. Besidas fanJ, Farrey's sells lighting, hardware, and kitchan and bath products. Photo left taken at F on floor plan; photo above taken at G.

longer tell the difference). When three cases 01 tiles arrived a few weeks later, I was impressed with the final result of my own custom blend. Besides mosaics, the Hakatai site offers the capability to custom-design murals, borders, and tile rugs.

SPRI:-'·C"Sl/MMFR 2JIOb 79

• • alS Bit by bit, an architect builds a vacation house in the Vermont foothills

BY PETER KURT WOERNER

I 0 the late 19805, I bought JO acres of hillside in south ern Vermont and

moved a big :lIltique barn on(O the property {;,r;l vacation

hous~. I left most of the site wooded bm cleared 3 acres, crcating a meadow with nice views CO the cast.

By 1995, I got the urge to build again. This time, J walHeo to

build a small guest house th:Jf would echo the main house. I had the perfect place for what I call the "Baby Barn," nestled against the tree li ne overlook

ing the meadow and tilT enough from the big barn for privacy.

To control costs, I wanted the Baby Barn to be rdntivdy simple.1 planned to put the fiJlishing touches on it working mostly solo on weekends, with occasional extended sessions. If the hl)Use was

too compkx, I'd never get it done. On the other h,md, I wanted to create a variety of spaces, both intimate and ~xpansive, :md to

usc: reclaimed barn timher.~ ,lnd

siding to emulate the warmth and richness of an old strucmre (www.conk!insbarnwood.com).

The sloped-site advantage

The Baby Barn is based on a traditional New England bank

so FINE HOM~:RUII.DI""'G

b.'l.rn, which is built into a slope and typically has twO floors. The upper floor upens to the uphill side, and vice versa. Placing the Baby Barn on a slope allowed me to save 50Ille money on a f(lundation and to have daylight in the downhilllower-Ievd rooms.

The main floor h..1s one big~pace

for living and dinmg, a kItchen, a bedroom, a loft over tilt- bedroom. and a bathroom (floor pLin p. 83). There is no formal entry with a doset. just pegs for coats.

The primary rectangle of the foundation is 18 fL by 40 ft. I chose 18 ft. so that I could usc 2xl2 floor jois1$ and not pay extra for I-joists (I don't mind the floor \Jt:lng a little bouncy). The living room feels quite gencrous because of the 12-ft. walls and IO-ft.-high winduws.

On the lower leveJ, the mechanicals and the laundry arc on the windowless uphill side of the barn. Next to t h i~ area is a central stai r and hall way with a shared bath for the twO bed

rooms that open to the meadow by way of French doors.

Hard work, smart choices accelerate move-in day

My goal was to SLUt in May and have the house weathenight,

insulated, heated, and livable (vacation style) with (JOe w(Jrk~

ing bathroom by ThanksJ::iving.1 hired a full-time carpenter and two helpers for this bigpush stage of the pro ject, and I did all of the ordering of materials and coordinating of subs even though I livc thrce hours away.

I spent money 5tr:ltcgically, investing 10 high-qual ity finish items but also s~I\,lng on

components that would be easy to change later. For example. the window~ an: frum Pella's Architect Series, and the: m(Jf is covered with western red-cedar shingles. On the other hand, rhe first kirchcn I put into the

Und~r a rustic skin, highperlormanc. Insulation. Recycled barn-board paneling iJnd hand-hewn timbers set the tone. Polyisocyanurahl foam insulation behind t he paneling keeps the rooms eomfy. At the top of the stairs, a sleeping loft overlooks the living room. Photo taken at A on lloor plan.

82

A IoftY ' IMc. with dl,t.nt views. Banb of windows reach to neolrly 11 h. above the livingroom (/oor. Wid. spruce planks carry on tn. ru,tic feel 0' the recycled barn-ba.rd paneling. Photo taken ott C on floor pi"".

FINt:; HOMt:;RUILDING

Baby Rarn was malic of COX plywood cahinet! that 1 bUilt in a day and a cast-iron smk that 1 found in a Dumpstcr. This ca mp kitchen worked fine for the first three years, unol l hall the time and re<;ources to pm In

a proper onc. To si mplify the mechanical

systems, 1 chose: a direct-vent, propane-fired hot-air furnace and hot-warer supply. This saved me the tiITlC and money r~uired to build a ma'iOlll"y flue for a conventional oil-fired ooiler.

I would choose direct_vent gas applIances again, hut I would approoch the electric service differently. 1kcaU5C I wcot with gas for heating, I decided I could save a Intle money by install ing a I OO-amp~rvicepa nel . lthas worked fine so far, though ifl decide to add a g-.a r3ge. I'l1 likdy haVe to upgrade the dectric service. In retrospect. I should have spent the I.':xua mOfll.':}' for a 100-amp panel.

The plan worked. By Thanksgiving. t had the: Baby Barn

weathenight. p lumbed , and roug h-wi red. With a threeburner camp stove. a tub with a poly shower curtain. and som~ tag-sale furniture. voil ll. the house was livable.

Fil"eplaces as centerpiece, I love fireplaces. w I put one In the maSk'r hcdroom and anOfher directly aoo\'e it in the "~'ing room. Thc raised SlOile hearth in the living room acrommodates firewood storage underneath. By Slacking the fireplaces,] needed

warmth and richness of an old structure.

unly one chimney. I kept all me firehox and chimney masonry inside the bu ilding envelopt: for two reasons: one, so that I could

work on them in any ty pe of weather; and two, to save energy. Why build a fi replace outside the huilding envelope when all rhe masonry wi ll be exposed to low [empt: rature~ (especially in Vermont, where it can be:: as cold as 4S Q F below zero)?

I built t he fireplaces myself out of concrete hlock. Both

a re Count Rumford designs. which arc great fo r looks and for th rowing off heat . I did, however, have: a mason take the chimney through the roof for me. Then I spent a couple of years co' ...... ring the block with stone veneer.

Long·term projects have the ir advantages As you get to know a hnu~e over time, opportunities prescot themselves that aren't always obvious in thc big push to finalize a plan, :\5 the Baby Barn grew up, I got to customize it-in 1950s hot-rod parlam;:e-with some bolt-on goodies. Three in particula r stand out. • Barn door. During framing. I thought it wou ld be neat to have a sliding barn door to cover up the three F rench entry doors, both fo r security and, for lack of a better word, "harnishncS5." So I built a IO-ft. by 10-ft. barn door In the livmg room. It wasn't until I had fi nished the door that I real ized it wouldn't fit diagonally through the French-door openi ng. A class ic screwup. I gOt off light, though, because t hadn't put up the siding yet. I cut a slot in the p lywood sheathing and sl id the door through it. - Cupola. T he building was looking a little too plain. even

for a minimalist like me. :\ cupola is a classic detail on a bank barn, where it serves as a vent. I thought it would he pretty cool to have one over the dining room for day lighting; at night, it would shine like a beacon.

To avoid a repeat of the harndoor fiasco, I carefully designed a cupola that could fit through the double doors in the kitchen. I bui lt the cupola in the living room, minus its base, and finis hed it inside and OUt with cedar shingles. I thtn got up on the roof and u.'Ied a ehainsaw to (.hop a hole so that I could build rhc cupola's base in place.

On a nice late-spring day, we had a cupola-raising party. The local lumber company donated iu crane truck, we lifted up the cupola, and it dropped in place perfectly.

Obviously, building a house this way is not for everyonc. A vacation hou~ can Ix doable, and if you're young, you might be able to take a si milar ap proach to building a permanent residence. Stress on a relationship can he . .:,evere, though, so it's cri tical to have a few- cons:tnlctioo-frtt zones, especially a dean b.1throom and

Notched into a hil lside and having entries on two ,,,,"'0'5, the Baby Barn i5 a direct descendant of tha venarable ban k b arn . A ramp composed of fie ldstone leads to th ll main entryway. A barn door with a cutOUt for thll b athroo m window seals off the French doors batween ",i lits. Photo t"kan at D on floor p lan.

a tidy place to sleep. The sweatequity savings are significant. but the key to it all is to rememher tbat life is in the living. 0

Peter Kurt Woerner, FAIA, is

an architect based in New Haven, Conn. Photos and drawings by the author, except where noted.

· Covered porch. Orig inally, t he re was an 8- ft. by 12-ft . notch in the southeast corner of the house, ntxt to the kitchen. A year or twO after the Baby Barn was up, I started thtnking about how nice it would be: to ha\'c a covered IXlrch for dining alfrt~o. With just a corner post, a bit of roof, and some decking, the;:re;: would be. room fo r a little table.

Gro und floor

~North

B

" Work ing With a top- notch framer, we::: completed the porch in three days and feathered some new ceda r sh ingles into the old roof. I also added .. quirky little dormer, which hrings light to both the porch and the sleeping loft.

o 5 10

SPECS BedroOl'Tl5: 3, plus sleeping loft

Bathrooms: 2

Size: 1700 sq. ft.

COtt $100 per sq. ft.

Photos tak .. n Ilt lettered positions.

Completttd: 2000

Loc.tion: South Londonderry, Vt.

OHignerlbuilder: Peter Kurt Woerner, FAIA

.-1 .. .., Master bedroom

""-f!!U

20 ft. Main fl oor

Li",il'!g area

o

Kitchel'!

Dinil'!g Bedroom '"'

~r-..,..i Tool shed

o SPR ING/SUMMJ::R 2006 83

End of Cheap Oil 84 )<' INE HOMEBUI LDING

BY DAVID ARKIN

I L is no coincidence that this house is a mere two blocks from E1 Camino Real. In the days of the

Spanish missions, it was the only rood up and down northern CaJiforni<l.. Today, it. i~ still ;m important artery, with ready acc~~ tu the freeway and the commuter rail. T his proximity to public transportation, alung with unpolluted air and tint-rate public schools, was a primary consIderation when GJadwyn d'Souza and Martina de la Torre began looking for a site for a new hO\l~. Creating a more healthful home was the prime motivator, as their daugh ter GabTldla had develuped asthma in their last hOllse near smog-prone Silicon Valley.

Glaowyn and I met on a tour of a re modd my partner Annl Tilt and I had d esigned (see "Daylight ing Strategies for a Ranch-Style Home," FHB#137). He and Martina liked many of that proJe<:t's green features and wanted us to design a house that used hot h pass ive and active energy strategies. It would he

built on a small urban lot they had purchased in Belmont, Calif.

Outdoor living on a busy street In architecmrc, there's an adage tinged with irony: "Your limitations are your trH~nds.~ Between the traffic on two sides of the sloping corner lot, two large oak trees, a city-mandated two~car garage, and a 4987-sq.-ft.lot, wc were not _short on limitations. Fitting even a rdatively small home within the setbacks required a VJTlance and some juggling.

Our first move was to mini· miu: strcct noise. An entry court with masonry wall~, finished with Stucco to match the house, provides a comf{)rtable, private

buffer on the sUllny but noisy side of the house,

We wanted to reduce square footage wherever possible. Multiple uses are made of circulation spaces; for example, the stairwell is also a library and an office (floor plans, p. 86). The laundry, the conneCTion to the children's bedrooms, and their play and

Healthful, light-filled, and energy-efficient, this home reaches back to its California past and toward a sustainable future

Captur. th. sun in many, many ways. Photovoltaic and hot-water panels faco 50urne,)5t, convorting solar energy into e lectricity and heat. A trellis-topped cupola admits light into the center of the house. On the street sidt;'. the masonry walls of the entry courtyard muHle the sounds of passing ~ehides. Sliding screens add privacy while allowing ventilation. photo left taken at A on floor plan; inset taken at B.

SI'RING/SUMM I'.R 2()O(, .5

A multitasking floor plan

The key to getting the mo~t u!>able space from every square foot is to make the rooms no larger than they need to be and to make some do double duty. In this plan, the hallway that leads to the kids' rooms is expanded slightly to be both a laundry and a study; the upper-floor stair landing is an offlce/library_

Mechanic~ll

iF-"r-., Bicycle stora9'"

Up

" Garage/ ree room

•

Lower floor

Phot05 tolium at lettered positions.

Living/dining area

Entry

SPECS Bedrooml: 4

Batkrooml: 3

Size: 1823 sq. ft., plus 670-sq.ft. heated garage

Cost: $300 per sq. ft .

Kids '

Completed: 2004

Location: Belmont. Calif.

Oe'Iener: Arkin Tih Architects

Builder: Ebcon Development; Ray 8aldhosky. supervisor

IH F + .J Master

! bedroom !Jp ')0 1¥"",!==:,....,.

Roof terrace

Main floor ,

North Upper floor

o 5 10 i

20 ft.

homework areas are all one space, and the short hall to the master bed room is also a dressing/makeup area. The kitchen, dmmg, and liv ing areas <He a ~ing le volume. A high ceil ing and southeast~facing clere~tory winJows give this room a sens-c of spaclOusness. Long views through the house, the entry court, and the oak trees also help the room to live large.

The guest bedroom has easy and unobSlructcd access for aging grandparen ts, allowing both entry and contiguous living on the main level of the house. The bathrOOm in this suite, built with un iversal~Jesign principles in mind, doubles as a powder room (for more on universal design, sec" A Home fo r the Next SO Years," FHB #163).

This house heats and cools itself. and generates its own electricity

Unlike c,lrs. huildings are fixed in the landscape and can he tuned to optima l performance based on their latitude, microclimate,

and other circumstances. \Vhcre feasible, we like to point houses toward the murning sun, espe~ cially in moderate cl imate~ prone to late~afternoon overheating.

One of the paradoxcs of a wdl~ d esigned passive-solar home is that when the sun is shining, there is liule need for addi tional heat; when the weather i~ cloudy and (old for a week or two, however, solar energy i~ most needed yet hardest to come by.

This homc incorporates a combi ned passivd active s)'~tem pioneered by Bob Ramlow of Anha Renewahle Energy in Amherst, \Vis. Therm al-energy storage is accomplished by banking the sun's heat in 2~ft.-deep ~nd heds underneath the floor slabs in the garage, playroom/laundry, and liv ing-room areas . The solar tluid, a 50~50 mixture of glycol and water, is heated most Jays between 1300 P and IflOoE It first circulate$ throug h a heat exchanger tha t heats Jume~tic hot water. Then the fluid flows thwugh tubing in the sand beds, where heat is stored and slowly

The tall ceiling and southeast-facing clerestory windows give this room

a sense of spaciousness.

In'" pi>o<o: Ed ... td c"ld,..,11

Long Vi6WlI and high ceiling., Sight lines that take the oyo beyond the bay window and to the badtyard deck make a modestly scaled room feel generous. A high ceiling held aloft by timber-frame trusses daylit by dormer windows doesn't hurt, either. Photo left taken at D on floor plan; inset taken at E.

rises mto the home. The SlOrcd

hea t is typicall y eno ugh (0

ohviate any nced for additional heating for up to thrcc weeks of ovcrca. .. t skies.

The flow of heated fluid to Utc sand beds is turned off in late ~pring and diverted to a ~hunT. loop beneath the en try terrace. The sand beds cool down and, due to thelf high thermal mass, keep th e home comfo r ta bl e th rough the summer. At the same time, the heated terrace extends outdoor living inro cool Bay A rea evemngs<

A pholOvoltaic (PV) array on the ro()f ()f Ihe li \' ing room provides the: home's c:Ie:ctrica l needs. The sY5tt'm d~sn 't store electricity in any baneries, bm instead feeds it into the grid until called on for use in the hou~. In arcas with reliahle utili ty grids, this setup generally is rccogniZ('({ as more c fficienr th.an battery storage:. [ f the: grid goes duwn. though, the house i~ also with!}ut power, despite the PV panek

For information on the eco~ nomics of these systems, see

SPRINGiSUMMFR 2006 87

RECYCLED MATERIALS

SALVAGED REDWOOD siding boards add character and pattern to the roof as exposed eaves and soffits.

88 FI\J E HOMEBU1LlJl :-: C

Enlarge a landing. make an office. Widening the hallway that leads to the master bedroom iJnd adding a quartet of windows created a treetop corner office out of what otherwise would /'lave been seldom-u5ed space. Photo taken at F on floor plan.

"The costs of going green" on the f.1cing page.

Green. salvaged. and rec:yded materials abound In this house While energy use is a home's primary impact on the planet, building materials are another consid eration. We try to pay attention to the origin of materials, their environmentJ I and health effects, and whether they arc renewable or recyclable. Of course, the best option is to eliminate a material altogether. or at least to reduce it, which geh back to the ideal of building as little as possible.

Admittedly. we are quite fon< I of wood.. It is renewable, recycbble, and increasingly a,,'ailable from sustainable forests. We opted for FSC-certifled wood (Forestry Stewardship Council; www-t"s.:us .org) for the bulk of the framing lumbt:r. This added aboutS2500 to the project, less than one-third of 1 % of the totJJ.

Plenty of salvJged wood aho ean be found in this house. The

MADE FROM RECYCLED TIRES and industrial plastics, the~e rubber ~hingles are deAd ringers for slates.

fir cedmg trusses were once warehouse beams, and the ceiling decking came from vinegar barrels procured from Recycled Lumhcrworks of Ukiah, Calif. (www.oldwoociguy.com).

Most of the studs in the book shelf walls had a previom life as flour joists. They came from the same local supplier that also provl{led the stair treads, w hich are milled from "urban forestry," or trees cut in people's backyards.

A fn'orite detail of ours is the ,'>Offit sheathing. It's old redwood siding reclaimed from Bay Area houses torn down to make way f()f new ones. To our delight, Gladwyn and Martina agreed to !eave this wood as is, revealing its past life in a suhtle yet telling way.

Many of the doors and windows :.llso were fmmd at local salvage yards, indurltng th e bifold garage doors that once hung in a Berkeley elementary schooL Salvaged mterior window5 are a great way of sharing daylight and space.

BUSTED-UP GLASS BOTILES find new life as the aggregate in this concrete counter.

Flooring un the upper levels of the house is lamm~ted hamboo, except on the top landing. The floor there features thick frostcdglass panels that lct light into tilt: spaces below. The p.mds <Ire

custom-made of 1 Vs-in.-thick laminated glass; the top surface is frosted for slip resistance and visual privacy. In [he

kitchen, the peninsula top is a terrazzolikc material made of rt'cycled glass bottles (www .couoterproduction.com)

On the roof, EcoStar rubber slates aTe made of 1()(}% rccycled

industrial plastic and synthetic rubber (www.t.eostarinc.com).

They are one-fourth tht' weight of traditional slates and half the cost. Plus, they won't break. Granted, at $2.90 pcr sq. ft., a

ruhber roof CCY.>ts more than twice <IS much <lS;1 rypic<ll asph<lltshingle roof ($1.2S per sq. ft.). With a life span of 40 to SO years,

though, the rubber slates likely will come out ahead In the end. We expect the owners of this huuse to do su as ~·d1. 0

David Arkin, AlA, is a prin

cipal at Arkin Tilt Architects in Berkeley, Calif. Photos by Charles Miller, except where noted.

The costs of going green

Daylight goes deep. Sunlight from the cupola floods through the frosted-glass flooring of th€l upper landing. The open risers of the stairs foster ventilation and connection between floors . Photo left taken at G on floor plan: inset taken at H.

Gladwyn ilnd Martina wanted a radiant-heating system for

comfort and health reasons:

Forced-air heaters can spread a tot of contaminants harmful to their daughter, who has asthma.

A typical gas-fired radiant floor

costs about $15,000. Operating this system, along with a water

heater and a stove, would cost 5100 a month at current rates.

The solar radiant-heating sys

tem we installed cost $26,920, including labor and materials for sand beds, tubing, solar panels,

controllers, sensors, and piping.

Natural gas powers backup water and space heating, cooking, and

a decorative fireplace. In the system's fiNt year of operation,

gas bills averaged $25 a month. With $75 in monthly savings, the

simple payback time on the additional $12,000 spent to instaU this system is about 13 years, This e!Otimate anumes no rise in the price of natural gas,

which is quite likely to go up over that period of time. (It is

also worth noting that the thermal-mass cooling value of the

system's sand beds means no air conditioning is necessary.)

The 2,5kw photovoltaic (PV)

system cost $29,344. The rebate from the California Energy Commission's buy-down

program was $11,140, for a net cost of $18,204. In the first year of operation, the PV system gen

erated as much electricity as the house used, resulting in

bills that totaled $0.00. GIVen the typical monthly electric bill for a house of this size (1823 sq. ft.) is about $100 at current rates ($0.1544/kwh), the simple

payba<:k time is about 15 years. As electricity costs go up, the

payback period shortens; at payback, future electricity is

essentially free. And there is great satisfaction in watching

your electric meter run backward.

BY MICHAEL HOPWOOD

T hr«yearsago.ourf:lInilymoved from Cali forma ( 0 Ve rmont, W~ we re lucky to find a nice home, but like il borrowed pair

of shoes, it never felt like <Jurs. My wife, Beth, and I decided to huild a hou~e if we could ~ti~fy a number of cond Itions: It had to be in the same school district so thatour thrcc sons wouldn' t h ~\Ie to change school~ again; it had to have privacy and sp,ICe for the boys to enjoy meoutdoon;!t had to have v iew~ of the Green Mountains; lind it h,d to Ix: wired for

90 f'lNE HOMF.RUTLnlNG

high-speed Internet acce~ so that r oould continue totdccommute (,('1m my home office,

A perfect site, after a little work We were worried that the search for a huildable 101 wuhin Ihe school distric t would be a real challenge, But one day, while dri\' lIlg my favorite rood in town, I saw a Uland (or Salc-" sign nailed to a maple tree, T he land looked like it would bech.lllenging lodc~dop: Old logging roads and mountam-hlking trails crisscrossed the:!2 acres of steep, rocky, wooded hilbidc, Allhuugh the trails wen: mterestmg, what re.111y grabbed me was the filtered view of Mount Mamfield through

the trees, A flat area about 150 ft, abuvc the ro.ld seemed like the natur.l15pot for a hoo~,

hut could we build a d riveway up the rocky hill and install a septic system and a well?

After many hou rs sp<'nt walklOg porential paths with an excavator and c3lculolling acceplahlc gr.uJes and turning r ... Jii, we ,-'CIIl

eluded that a drivcway could be huik A civil engineer determined that dC$ptte the rocky soil . we could imlltll a septic ~ystem if we used an aerobic 1re.1 lment system.

With this information in hand, Beth and I bought the land and began taming our wild lot. Although it wasn't the Panama Dna!. rhe site did pose some challenges. To pUi

in a l500-ft. -long dnveway and the hou.~ site, the crew had to cu t through cou ntless trccs and bushes and endlas ledge, and al.'iQ endure swarmliof mmqUItOCS, hbckflle!i., and a very wet summer. C lea ring and construction of the driveway alone lOok four months.

One crisp October day, the last trees finally were removed from the si te, and suddenly we cou ld see:t stunning view of the valley and the mounlaim.ln that instant, we knew this was going to be a ~p«ial plate.

A house for work and play

While the excavators were carving a road up the hill, we were working with Brian M:1C of

Coopera tive d esign. The breezeway is OM of $1W9ral areu where the details of the design were left up to the carpenters, Red House Builders. This small co-op's cr.Jftsmen suggested the rough post-and. beam structure as a fitting transition between the plain barn and the refined house. Photo above taklw at A 011 floor plan; inset taken at B.


Galley Ifiteh~ for efficiency. The narrow, rectangular layout creoltes comp<lr:t worlc. triangles that keep

appliances and storag41 within e<liY reach. The open plan makes the

space feel anything but small. ""'oto right taken at C on floor

phm; inset t.ken at D.

Birdst:ye Architectural SlUdlo in Richmond. Vr., ro design ,he house. Brian has a dive~ portfolio, a Ion of energy, and a home and office dose by. His proximity allowed him ro so: how our f.1mily (and our tWO I...a.bs) works.

Brian omcrved that the kitchen, the family room,and the mudroom were where we intcra<:ttd asa family. ikth and Ilikcd an open floor plan for its easy access to each of these areas. However, we had lived in houses with open plarubeforeand knew that we alsoncedOO privatt: arcH toescape [he volume offamily 11ft:.

Some of thcse private spaces would be for work, and othenfor play. My wife and l oo.:h work from home, so we needed comfortable and efficient home offices. We also wanted to create a space where we could read with the kid~ ,tnt! work together on homework. Because our sons lnve to build forts, we also asked Brian to design a private loft in tne arnc space above each boy's bedroom.

The kitchen at the heart of it all Brian had the challenge of merging our mooern family's function.!l requirements

with the traditional Vermom farmhouse style 11\;e liked. At first we queo;tioned his unconventional solution of placing the kItchen right in the cemer of the house (floor plan, facing page). But the mure we con~idered it. the more excited we became. Thl: kitchen is the hub of activity for nur fa mily, and Brian's design put the huh in the mIddle of the whed, adjacent [0 the dining area, the falmly room, and [he mudroom hallway.

Our daily life literally revolves around the kitchen. The room's design is imemionally eompoact so that everything is close at hand. When the kids pop up on the barstoois (sidebar left) at the counter before school, breakfast is a simple matter of preparing cereal and toa5t .. nd hllnding it across to them. After hre;lkf3~t, they ull&h duwn the hall to the mudroom to dres~ for the hike to

the bus stop at the bottom of thc drivcway. As my wife and I dean up the kitchen, we can keep an eye out the fronl door for the Federal Expros van.

The wall of windows In the adjoining dining area brings light and views into the whole

FAMILY LIFE REVOLVES AROUND THE KITCHEN

The kitchen is the heart of any household, but few floor plans place it there. Despite this home's traditional farmhouse appearance, the kitchen is literally its hub. The front door opens dir&ctly into the ki tchen, which is connected to all the rooms on the first floor. The hub concept is carried over to the second-floor space above the kitchen, where the long hallway connecting the two bedroom wings Jarves as a gathering spot for reading and homework,

SPECS

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 2%

Size: 3000 sq. ft . (excluding barn)

Cost: $200 per sq. ft.

Completed: October 2005

Location: Jericho, Vt.

Architect: Brian Mac, Birdseye Architectural Studio

Builder: Red House Builders

A fltmily study hall under the cupola. The long desk in the secondfloor haJ/way is for Ilomework freQ at the distractions of toys and games and under a parent'$ watchful eye. At bedtime the {amily dimb$ onto the built·in seat for the latest adventures in the Magic Treehouse 5er;es. Photo taken at E on floor plan.

Mutor bedroom

lIIundry

Study hall

Se(ond floor

1

r

Screened porch

Family room

QJ • , . Dining g r area

C" Kitchen

<-Ll'RI ·,t On ...

OHice

Mudroom

• • • First floor

Bath

Photo$ taklilfl at lettered positions.

I North

o 5 10 15ft.

_A

Office

• ... SPR ING/SUMMER 2006

dining and kitchen space. If rhe weather is nice, J c;tn grah some reading material for work and walk through tht dining area to the chairs on the oock lxm.:h.

When the hop come home from school, they grab a snack at the breakfast bar and watch a few minutes of TV on the wallmounted LCD television. Dinner sees the sun set on the mountains, and the family once again gathered in the kitchen.

Brian also incorporated private spaces for quieter activities. DownstalTs, a small sitting room off the kitchen allow~ for reading or watching TV beh ind a dosed door. Upstairs, each bedroom has a wall-mounted ladder leading to a private 10ft. The SC{:ond floor also houses a "smdy hall." Thi~ broad

hallway connecting the two bedroom wings serves as ooth a family reading room and the kids' study. On one side of the hall IS a long, wll window seat when: our family gathers most nights to read a story. The he ight of the window seat allows for book storage underneath and, during the day, views of the mountain~. Directly across from the window se .. t is a 12-ft.-long desktop that the kids usc for their computer, projects, and homework.

Commuting to work without leaving home The most importa nt private rooms in the house are our offices. Before building this house, my wife and I buth wurked from home for a couple of years without dedicated home offices. This experience tallght lIS that we needed comfortable, purpose-built office space and that we had to choose communication technology carefully. There's nothing worse than losing phone or email contact with your coworkers and clients.

A wireless netwnrk for broadband Internet access offers the coIl\'eniencc and flexibility of moving around the house with a laptop. HowevC'r, the m:d l-beam~ th .. t frame the core of our house and the sound-deadening insulation in interior walls limit the range of rhe network, 'l() we installed both wired and wireless ethernet. This setup ensures reliable


With this vie w, who needs a corfUl r offlc,,? The built·in desk holds the author's computer

and videoconferencing monitor. A flip.down

door provides access to the high·tech nerve center. Photo taken at

F on floor plan.

and fast performance when we're plugged in,along with the ability to move around the house with a laptop when we're not.

For voice communications, my wife and I use wireless headsets. While we're un long phone calls, we can keep our hands free to do things around the house. Also, my office is ~t up for videoconferencing, so I can join busine~s meeting~ face-to-face with colleagues and clients.

To back up these systems, we added wholehouse surge protection and a gem:rator, which protect our equipment and enable u.~ to work even when the power is out.

Although working at home lets us live in a beautiful location 3000 mile~ from my employer, our offices must be comfortable and efficient so that we can be productive while spending long hours behind a desk.

Acth and I didn't want to be isolated in .. corner of the house. GIven the three-hour time difference with my employer, though, I'm often workmg in the afternoon and evening,

whell the kids are home, and I need a quiet space. Roth offices arc located ncar the kitchen so that we can interact with the bop, but they're equipped with solid doors and insulated interior wans to shut out n01se.

The final key to an efficient home office is storage to contain the clutter. In my office we designed a widc, built-in desk thai accommodates my computer and videoconferencing unit, with room [0 spare.

In addition, the office closet has dedicated storage areas for the printer, the shredder, and office supplies. A flip-down door under my de~k reveals a shdf where the power adapten, the firewall, {he external hard drive, and all the ;tccompanying wires arc located. Thi5 handy feature keeps the floor frce of dust-gathering clutter. 0

Michael Hopwood enjoys lunchtime runs on the trails right outside the door of his Jericho, Vt., home. Photos by Sean Groom.

From Small to

Big Enougb A worker's bungalow expands to meet contemporary needs without losing its charm

BY BILL MASTIN

This modest California bungalow served its present owners, a

photographer and a gener<l l contractor, quite wdl for

mOTe than 10 years. They added a small darkroom and a home office at the ba~ment level, and replaced the home's aging ooardand-batten siding with cedar ~h ingles, turning it into a little cousin to the famous "Berkeley brown shingles" across town.

As their two daughters grew up, however, Bill Jetton and Janet Delaney's cozy two-bedroom house began to fed cramped. The teenagers could no longer share a bedroom, Janet needed proper studio space for her growing photography career, and everyone wanted a second bathroom. Their search for a bigger hou'iC hcgan duringt~ Bay Area's merciless dot-com bubble.

Janel and Bill spent a frustratmg two years looking for a reasonably located and big-enough place; charm became optional. Potential buyers crowcit"d Sun~ day open houses, reeling ;H

Keep the pfo{ile low on the street side. With a charming porch setting the tone, the new second story repeats its gable shape with a dormer that con· tains the master bedroom. Pho· tos taken at A on floor plan.

SPRING/ SUMMER 20M 95

HOUSE GROWS TOWARD THE BACK

Simple in plan and modest in amenities, the original house Will virtually intact. The only changes (by previous owners) had been the addition of another bedroom in the back and a dade off the kitchen. Now, the newfy remodeled house Indudes a second· f100f'" bedroom, bath, and I'tudio, along with an expanded kitchen and a carefully revised deck. Moving the ridge t oward the backyard and placing ill

high. shGd.$tyle dormer for the studio behind it kept the bulk of the upstairs addition largely hidden ITom view. Photos tllken at B on floor plan.

Photos taken II! !eUe,..d positio"s,

room ' . aedroom Bedroom

F,m"'JD:' , ~~=ll==i" ==;..Ji

Ded<

Open to below

Main floor

Man or bathroom

~

To striHIt

Orig'''' floor plan I • .tt.ded yellow_

Now conlffll",;on ;s .... dod

.,RiM

SPECS B.droom~ 3

Baths: 2 ... II bedroom IIIYllt ory

Size befM.: 1077 sq. ft.

Size after: 1967 sq. ft.

Builder: Jlltton Consm.>ction Inc.

Upper floor

, North

----. 0 24 8h.

Co,t: $198 pe r sq. h . (includes both new and remodeled space)

Completed: 2001

Location: Berkeley, Calif.

Architect: Bill M lls t in

Five feet that made a big diHerence. Bumping out the back wall 5 ft. made room for the dining table. Photo taken at D on floor plan.

inflated prices. Tht .~earch was draming, and the numbers never really added lip in favor of moving. T he houses for sale, though larger than the bungalow, all seemed to have flaws in theIr layout, and many needed extensive structural or fini.~h work.

Whil e t he work Hill an d Janet had done on their houscnew founda tion, shingl~s, and hasemen t space-would be attract ive to huyers, they likdy wouldn't recoup what they had put in. And the k itchen still had its onginal plan, which was not up to cu rrent stan da rds. What todor It was time to assess the potential for enlarging their little bungalow.

Because we were old friends, I was fa m iliar with Rill and Janet's house. J laving attended many birthdays and holiday celehrations, r knew the kitchen's flaws firsthand. I had worked ~"ith Bill on residential projects over the years, so I also knew the many building skills he and his team could put into action. H e re was a rare opportunity

TO hdp good fnends make the p lace they loved grow to £crve their evolving needs.

At t he end of an otherwise functiona l list, Janet added: "Don't forget to have fun."

The floor plan was perfect-for 1910

When we pondered the home's n~xt chapter, we all agreed the bungalow had a homey, sheltering quality and a simplicity in its basic layout that were worth keeping. It was built in 1910, just a few yeiln ilfter Berkeley booste r and lXJet Charles Keeler wrote Thr Simple Home. He advocilted iI home where" ... all is q uiet in effect, restrained in tone, yet natural and joyous in its frank use of unadorned materia!." Good advicc. We mused about what natural touches we might bring to the design.

Bill and Janet had heard their house described as a "worker's bungalow." It was affordabl e pardy because: of what was omi!ted. The hou~ had a welcoming little front porch but no foyer. A


To improve circulation, take a bite out of the bedroom

Carving out a slice of the adjacent bedroom made an alcove for the piano, a place to hang coats, and a much clearer path to the front door. In the bedroom, tha alcova's cailing is a storage sheff. Photos taken at E on floor plan.

table at the hack kitchen window had a view of the garden, but there was no dining room. Passage to the front and rear bedrooms was directly through the small living room and kitchen bt'cause there was no central hallway. Between the Ixdroom~, the lone bathroom had ., door into each but no link to the other living areas. These three features-foyer, dining room, and central hallway-arc typical in the many Craftsman-inspired bUllgalows around the Berkdey area. As we started to elliarge the hou~, we fdt their ahM:nce.

First, improve circulation

The original ki tchen plan Wa5 a chopped-up jumble ofthrcc small rooms: one for the Sink; one for the laundry and the back entry; and one for the stove, refrigerator, and table, with almost no usable counter space. But the plan's main Haw was poor circulation. The diagonal route disrupted cooking and dining, and it madelaundry and outdoor access difficult. Entertaining could he a bruising affair. Thus, getting a

straighter route established from the tront door through the house to the backyard became a key organizational idea (floor plans, p.96).

The first move was to get lhe piano out of the way of the front door (photos left). A slice of space taken from the front bedroom resu\u:d in an aleove for the piano and for Co.1tS. \Vhile not a foyer, it helped with traffic flow and added charm to the living room.

The old house did have a usable attic, with storage space and a roof steep enough for moving around easily. By pushing hack the ridge, we exploited this yolume for a new second floor, without adding much height or apparent bulk. The new upstairs became the parents' realm.


OUf first instinct had [he master bedroom facing the quieter back garden, and Janet 's ~ludio on the street. These locations switched early, though, because we decided it was essential to

maintain the house's I Yl-story appearance from the streel. A cozy master bed room could be

shaped with a gable dormer and take its detailing cues from the anginal house. Tn the back, the studio's larger shed dormer could lift up for its needed volume, without the low~slope, torrhdown roof becoming a dominant dement from the street. Because of its door arrangcmem, the new upstairs hath serves as a master bath that abo (;\1\ be used by the rest of the household. A small vanity sink in the master bedroom takes the pressure off lhe bathroom at rush hour.

By selectively removing walls on the main floor, we opcned space for a stairway that overlooks the new cente r of the house. A former closet became th e laundry, with storage above and shelves attached to the doors.

This island can float out of the way The old kitchen was just tOO

small, so we expanded it by pushing the west w,dl 5 ft. toward the backyard. Now there's space for pull-out pantry cabinets and a dining table with a garden view. This move also made room for an island and a coupk of stools. The Island IS on wheels (with brakes!), so on specia! occasions, the kitchen can be transformed into a festive mead~ hall with sit-down dinner space for 20 peoplc.

Secrets of a great outdoor room on a small lot Elevated to catch the sun, the new deck takes it~ shape from the views it either protects or

enhances. The deck is oriented so that it deflects stair traffic away from the bedroom window adjacent to the hack door ," .... hile also giving some breathing room to the ground-floor Window below. The nearly 7-ft.-wide steps provide a sitting perch with a view that's angl~d away from a nearby storage shed and toward thc flower beds in the far corner of the garden.

The new deck is about the same size as the old, hut this one has a huilt-in bench. A timber-frame trellis with beefy 6x6 masts defines the corner of this out~ door room and anchors one end of the clothesline. The window~ next to the breakfast table turn into pass-throughs when the grill is fired up.

Screening with greenery can make a small urban lot fccl more private. Here, it also provides shade and helps to define garden pathways. Cahles hring climbing vines up the south wall, where they provide- filtered light for Janet's studio. A spectacular climhing rose survived construction and is now a flowery ca~ that .. Haps around the path leading to Bill's basement offiC<!. n

Bill Mastin is an architect

based in Oakland, Calif. Pho~

tos by Charles Miller, except

where noted.

Corn.r tabl., ,un,hin. If ponibl". A little deck. elevated above grade enough to make the most of the sunlight, Is frem8d by 01 built-in bench and a beefy rfK1-cQdar mad tMa! anchors OMQ Qnd of a dothesline. Photo above taken at f on floor plan; inset taken from studio window.

A washer and dryer. elevated for easier accessibility, reside in a former closet. ShQlvus hang on the inside of the flush hollow-core plywood doors. which are stiff enough to take the extra weight. Fitux frames applied to the outside of the doors g ive them the frame-and.panel look of the original doo~. Photos taken at G on floor plan.

Hollow-core {

d~'7

"I.-in. by 1 'I .. in. shelf guards

. .

to door's framo

A Contemporary Inspired by Northwest Native American homes,

a new retreat points its gabled prow seaward and shows off its structure inside

Pointing to til ...... Similar to the orien. tation of Northwest Native Americ"n long houses, this peninsula. perched home ""$ Its $hort·side gable toward the water. Photo abo .... taken at A on floor plan; photo facing ~ge taken at 8.

BY DAVID HALL

~n the Christuffcrsem invited me to lIisil their summer residence, f was not prcp.-ucd for 5uch a remarkable site. A rocky penin.mla, approached from the east by II gravel road winding through evergreen forcst, offered commanding VI(:W5 of Wash-

ington's Puget Sound. A charming but dated cottage sat on the outcropping. Early discussions o:ntcrcd on a remodd, but poor conditions and low, dark

J"(lOm\ made thiS impractical. We decided in5tead to surt fresh, althvugh shordine regulations requiro::lu-\ to build exactly 00 thc f(JO(print of the old couagc.

A modern floor plan from an ancient model Traditionally, Native Americans of the coastal Northwest built long houSC$ with their gable rKJK~ pointing toward the sea. Because the water served as both highway and markcl, front doors always faccd Kawa rd. Inside a long house, communal activities took place in the center of the structure, and private spaces for dan families f1ankw the outer walls. A fire pit, whose smoke rose: through an opening in thc cedar roof, occupied a place al the lodgc'$ center.

The footprint of the Christoffersens' origLnal cottage-long axis running along the length of the peninsula-:l.l1owed the design of the new house: to fonow looscly the floor plan of a traditionalloog house. QUlte often, waterfront h()me~ arc built with the broad side facing the sea to maximize views; but on a narrow OUt

cropping with waler on three sides, this traditional design becomes unnecessary. By reversing the main entrance from the watc.r ro the forest side. we were abk to accommodate the obviolL~: Today. people arrive by c.u.

Along wilh its a)(ial orientation, the new house nasa floor plan that mares traits with a long house. Common spaces .:are in the center of the building, flanked by privati! spaces along the cavcs. Two bedrooms. a den. and a kitchen :.Ire lucated to

dK sides of the main roofline; a firq>lacc, a hallwlly,and a living room arc ccntl!red under the ridge:.

A house battened down against the elements Ruilding on such an cxpost:d site docs nOt come without problems. Three side~ of the hou~ face the sea and mmt hear the brunt of its attendant sun, wind, rain, and corr05ive saltwater.

Ample roof overhangs proteCl me building from rain. while ~un.sh3dei :l.hnve (he living-room windows hdp 10 reduce heal gain in summer. Patios off each ~ide of the

100 FIN~ HOMFRUILDING

t :~:~" 2, w;t , , loft office

Bathrooms: 2

Size: 2200 sq. ft.

Cost: S360 per sq. k .

Completed: 2004

I.o<.atlon: Lopez Island, Wash.

ATdiit. ct: David Hall

Builder. Paulson Construction Inc.

NEW LIFE FOR A TRADITIONAL PLAN

• North

E ~

C+

livIng room

Kitchen U .. o

~H /

t.-_~ ___ • 0 D

Main floor .-Do" I

".

Bedroom

Hall

Mast!!r bedroom

+F

laundry! uti lity ,.

I Arranged on an axis, the private spaces of the

_ house open onto a central nail. As it progrtlUI;IS through the house, the hallway leads through a lowoceilinged space under the loft toward the airy heights of the living room .

... Entry

~ o 2 4 i a ft.

•

loft

Pnotos taken .!II lettered position$ .

Office

SPRING/SUM\1ER 1006 101

Sheds on th llP skills. Tucked under a shed roof on the north side of the hou~a, the kitchen receives il portion of its day. light from clerestory windows. Black metal, used in handrails, window frames, and the chimney stack. is a unjfying th",me throughout the house. Light-colored wood cabinetry matches peelcd-Iog posts and contrasts well with a blackand-white stone counter and a fullheight stainless-steel stove backsplash. Photo above taken at C on floor plan; bottom photo taken at D.

102 PIN E HOMEBUILDING

living room provide a sheltered outdoor space, regardless of wind direction. The metal roof, gutters, downspout.~, and flashings all have a facwry-applied Kynar finish (sidebar, p. 105), as do the aluminum windows. Finally, western red~cedaT shingles and trim, wim their timcproven ability to withstand harsh Northwe.~t weather, clad the exterior.

In most build ings, the gable walls provide shear strength to resist the racking force of the wmd. But in this house, we wanted as much glass as possible to t.1kc advantage of the view. Unfortunately, glass doesn't have much, if any, shear strength. Stainless-~kel tie rod~ were the solution: They give the gable end needed resistance to wind and other forces working against the structure. The rods arc exposed elegantly just outside the living-room wmdows (photos p. 105) and are connected to eyebolts embedded in concrete.

Bccau...eofthe housc's promlnenr location, wechoscexterioTcolors that would h...!p it to recede into the forest backdrop. The metal roof is dark hronze to reduce glare. The shingle siding and trim arc stained a scmitran.~parentdark gray, and the aluminum windows are black. Beams, rafters, and caves all arc stained a natural raw~eedar shade. The camouflaging is a success. Ferries pas.~ daily, and when my wife and I were ahoard last summer, r barely could find tht." hOliSt." with binoculars.

Signature details are also part of the structure 'I'he roof structure was designed for both visual importance and structural efficiency. The 3x8 rafters are exposed at 2 ft. 8 In. on center,

Long hou$e, long view. At the entry, a central hall is flanked on each side by bedrooms and a utility space. At the end of the hall, the fireplace arrests the eye. Along with throwing off heat on chilly days, the f ireplace acts as an interior focal point, serving to separate the living room from the entry haJI . Photo left taken at E on floor plan; inset taken at F.

Th. front i. in th. bKN. A park. ing space surrounded by trees gives w"y to a fI"9stOfW! palh that leads to the main entrance. Photo taken at G on floor plan.

three bays thus being equal to a sheet of pi) woW. or 8 ft.; the 20-in. dimension of a 3x8 i~ well proJXlrtiollet! for lIs sp:m The 4xo outTlggers are exposcd and bolted to the: undersides of the Joists to carry the: IOdd of the roof overhangs. The timber ~CiS50rs trus:;es support the ridge beam and lend rhythm, scale. and a sense of importance to the mdio social sl>:Ice.

Another unifying mdtcTla l In the home is Ihe concrete Aoon. With bedrock lust a few inches beneath (he enlry elevation. concrete WdS

d lo~ica l noorin,g choice. An in-nonr hot-waler \y~lem clTcul:ucs heat th roughout the house:. Because qualuy control of truck-mixed concrete is difiicult due [0 inlra-idand fury I ravel, the concrete was

poun:d without a (Olor additn:e, d len ground smooth to expose the randomly patterned aggregate . .'\luminllm eonlrol)oinrs, ~ in. thick, help to control cracking; they were jn~talled in a grid C<lrrespondmg

to the: rafters to add visual interest.

The fireplace is central to the interior In addition to providing heat, the fireplace serves as a defining dement of thl! lwusc's intcnur. It's not only \'i~ihle from 'he living room, the dinin,g room, thc kitchen, dnd tht den, but it's also one of the first things you 5tt

when you louk down Ih(' entry hall frum the fronc door.

The rle~lgn of che fireplace was a source of continua l discussion. Tdea~ ra nged from wood 10 gas 10 seethrough to no fireplace al all. In the end. we decided on a wood-burning fireplace built from concrete block. Plate steel, 1/1 in, thick, wraps the block and pro\·jdes a frame for the glas~ rloors. Veneer granite encases

tilt: uppe r portion and the back of the fireplace, which tops off at "bout 5 fro with a granite mantel. A stajnb~-sted flue rises from the mantel and pa~s~ through the trusses to the outside,

The ~ame unfinished steel used for the fireplace i~ incorporated Into the loft's balcuny details. The balcony rail panels arc: made (rom pj·,w'oc,j with maple framing members dtsignc:d, again, to cxprc~s

-iii "W""'U"and materials while lending priv<1cy to the office loft.

10.. FINE HOMEBUlLiJINU

I~he end. the house feds right from I:xxh Inside and out, pecking from a forest backdrop on the prow of the Vtlllmula. Th(' views arc great and the lifestyle informal, thanh, III PMt, to an ancient Nonhwen .uchetype; the long house. 0

Dallid Hall is a partner in HKP Architects in Mt. Vernon, Wash. Photos by the author, except where noted.

Structural .ffidendes. RaN.ef$ ilnd sciuors trusses made from 3)(8s are laid out 2 ft. 8 in. on center, allOWing three bays to equal 8 ft. Eaves-end outriggers that project into the room support the rooi overhang and visually emphasize the structure. Outside, diagonal stainless-st&el rods run from thc gable eaves to a center footing, providing shear strength to the all-glass gable end. Photo taken at H on floor plan.

1'1.,,,, IK'"I !"'~" ),10..1."",,,,,,,<

n-resistant

Although metal make!>

for a durable roof. it does corrode. That's one reason why lots of

metal rook are painted (another is that you

might want a green, red. or blue roof rather than just plain metal).

like all paints, the stuff used to coat metal roofs

varies in quality. All paints have three basic components: pig

ments, resins, and solvents. Solvents do their job by mixing

together the pigments and resins, then disappearing as the paint cures. Pigments provide the color. and resins protect the pigments and make everything stick to the metal.

Polyvinylidene fluorides, or

PVDFs, are acknowledged in the industry as the best resins for

coating metal because of their superior ability to resist fading. chalking. staining. and chemicals,

and because of the way they retain gloss. The original trade

name for PVDF resin is Kynar; while it's almost synonymous with

PVDF, other brands are available.

Not all factory-coated, Kynar-

based products are the same.

Products with 70% Kynar in the

resin are most durable. Higher concentrations won't coat as well,

and lower ones aren't as durable.

While most top-quality products contain the optimum amount of Kynar, some companies use coat·

ings with OfIly 50% PVDF resins. When buying a metal roof or any other painted exterior metal,

specify that they be coated with products that contain Kynar 500

or Hylar 5000, another popular brand name; those two designa.

tions guarant&e that 70% of the resin is made from PVDFs. Everything else is just paint,

SPRI:\G/SUMMER 200(' 105

In an old city neighborhood, a glass cupola delivers sunlight to showcase the interior of a dazzling new home

and the

BY TA NI S A N D G ENE S HAW

S etrled In 1718, Lancaster, Pa., is the oldest inland city in the country, and it has seen its share of ups and downs. \Vc moved here on the

brink of the city's latest renewaL J\'ew restau

rants and galleries, concerts, and city-stx>morcd cultural events arc all only a short walk from our house. Thanks to Lancaster's d iverse architectural history, the walk is

often our favorite part of a night out. Clad mostly in brick, the home~ of LanCaster range

from early Georgian to 19th-century Victonan to the eclectic colomal-rcvlv.:Jl style of the 1900s. One side of our street is dominated by 19[h~century carriage hUll>tS,

while our side is mostly row houses. Oddly enough, half of our lot 15 in a historic district.

Pleasing Lancaster's architectural-review hoard with the

plans for our new house wasn't a concern for us, though. \Vc pn:fcr histuric uet<lih, <lnu uur <lTchitect was Euniliar with the architectural styles 1Il our neighborhood. The design challenge was incorporating more modern ideas, lllduding universal design and <l sunlit interior, mto a row house.

Building in the city also poses chal1engrcs. OIlT hO\ls~ is on a narrow street where there is link space to maneuver under the utility wires. Because on-site storage space was limited. we had to arr.mge for d.lily delIVeries. and during excavation, material had to be removed immediately.

A few times, we asked the city for permission to shut the street to traffic, allowing U5 to em ploy a crane and

Blending in and rtanding out. Buih on two lots, one of which is in 8 historic district, this new row house blends into the neighborhood with traditional and recyded mao terials , and st.Jnds ovt with vnique design details Ww a copper.dad two·story bay window and a glass cupola. Photo above taken at A on floor plan; photo facing page taken at B.


A GLASS CUPOLA BRIGHTENS A ROW·HOUSE INTERIOR

With two windowless walls, row houses have a disadvantage when it comes to daylighting. Here, the 50lvtions that feali.l:(! a sunlit interior come from above. A large glass cupola captures sunlight and delivers it to tho second-floor hallway via a long, splayed shaft. Interior transom

windows allow light to penetrate the second-story bedrooms, and a wide circular stairwell conveys light to the windowless first-floor hallway. Dormer windows on the east- and westfacing walls and four skylights in the great room brighten the atmosphere.

Whirling for light. The wide drcultJr staircase has curly-maple treads and a laminated mahogany hand,.,,/. Its greatest asset, though, is the natura/light it delivers from the cupola to the first floor. Photo taken at 0 011 floor plan.

Master bedroom

Great room

II

Daylighting the master b~droom. Located ;It the bad: of the house. the master bedroom has three sources of sunlight: standard windows, dormer windows, and interior transom windows that capture light from the cupola. Photo taken at C on floor plan.

Making a point in the gfeat foom. Occupying the single-story portion of the house, the triangular great room comes to 11 point so that views through the large windows are not of neighboring homes. Photo taken at E on floor plan.

operator to set long beams and a cupola. W hen the time came to lift these heavy, awkward objects onto the house, we could do noth ing but bite our nails and watc h the crane maneuver around the power lines and over neighhoring roofs.

Daylight comes from above We started wi th two p rima ry deSign ob jecti ves fo r the house: a sunlit interior and a fl oor plan that w iiJ allow U~ to g row old in th is house, To help us meet these challenges, we employed a rl h itect anu long time frie nd Joan Fleckenstein.

By nature, row houses are at a disadvantage fo r capturing daylight hecau~e two sides of the house are nea rly windowless. We are fortunate to have an east-west orientation, which offers the most ex~sure to the sun in an urban setting. To lake ad vantage ofthis orientation, Joan ~uggesteJ two featu res fo r capturing sunlight: a large cupola and a tn angular great room .

T he copper-dad cUJXlla has a glass roof and windows in all four sidewalls (drawing faci ng page). Inside, the cupola is 5 it. 6 in. square. H owever, the 19-ft. ~haft that extends from the cupola's peak to the second-story ceiling splays to a I O-ft. 6-in. by 8-ft. U-lll. rectangle. Although we ongina lly had plan ned for the house to he 2200 sq. ft., the cupola shaft took up ~ much of the second fl oor that we had to add space to keep bed room sizes proportion .. L

To d raw su nlight from The cupola lOW adjacenT room~,

we installed transom windows along the tops of the

FLEXIBLE FLOOR PLAN ADAPTS TO HOMEOWNERS' LIFESTYLE i

North

I I

walls and above the doorways. The wide, eurved stairwell, located duectly undt:r the cupola, brings light down to the first- t-lom hallway.

The great room, which IOciudes ou r kiTchen and living area, is a single-story, tr iangk-sha~d room in the lXl.ck of the house. Keepi ng this ]Xlrt of the house to one story allowed us to install fou r skylights that capture d irect light for much of the day. The triangular shape (the house comes to a point in the hack) means that large banks of wlOdows on both sidewalls of the great room have lunger views that don't focus on ou r neighbors' homes.

The first floor is convertible T hIS is the second house we've buil t and the one we hope to retire in. T herefore, our second design objective was to create a floor plan that can he modified in the future if we need to live on a single story.

Through the garage, the huuse is wheelchair accessible; stairs are set up to be converted easily to a ramp. On the fi rst fl oor, the 4-ft. 6-in. -wide hallways and 2-ft, 8-in.wide doorways allow fo r easy wheelchair movement.

With a well-d isguised Murphy bed, the library doubles as guest q uarters, but it has the potential to be converted into a permanent first-floor bedroom someday. In total,

Closet Bedroom/office

Bedroom/studio Although the homeowners use only the master suite as a bedroom, this house has the potential o 5 10 15 ft.

to dlilTlgE' easily from a single-be droom to II threebedroom dwelling. The second-floor studio even has plumbing at the ready for a futu re bathroom. On the first floor, the library has a Murphy bed for guests. Wit h a full bathroom just around the corner, the libra ry could become 3 permane nt bedroom if the need for single-story living arises.

SPECS

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

Size: 2550 sq. ft .

Cost: $125 per sq. ft,

Compl. t.d: 2002

Phoros taken at lettered positions.

location: Lancaster, Pa.

Architect: Joan Fleckenstein

Buikler: Gene A. Shaw, The Wooden Plane

S.cond floor

Ent ry .. Great room

Garage

First floor


SALVAGI§:P MATERIALS AND SPECIALTY HARDWARE BLEN TRADITIONAL DETAILS WITH NEW IDEAS

Two thing$ we wanted to make the most of in this

"cuse were living 'pace and Gene's formidable cache of salvaged materials. During his 30 yearJ in home restoration

and cabinetmilking, he has ac;quired a collection of cabinet doors, hand-carved columns, antique locksets, and lots of wood, Before using reclaimed lumber or

an old architectural element, however,

we had to weigh its value and charm to determine if it was worth spending time or money to recondition it. The library offers good examples of how we used recycled materials to add interest and specialty hardware to 5ave space.

If reading puts you to sleep, this room is for you The first-floor library doubles as a guest bedroom. It also leaves open the possibility of a permanent first-floor bedroom.

Gene is no stranger to making cabinets, but this was his first attempt at building

a Murphy bed. We cho5-e Hafele's foldaway-bed hardwClre (Product No.

271,92.130; 51,429) beQuse the dimensions were dose to U.S,-standard queensize beds and because Hafele also sells a mattress (v.ww.hafeleonline.com). We installed the hardware on a mocked-up carease, then fine-tuned the panel design and the hardware placement. Finally, we calculated and weighed our materials according to the manvfacturer's instructions before building the mahogany and m<lple cabinetry.

The front panel where the bed hardware is attached had to weigh about 100 lb. for the mechanism to work properly. Weight could be added easily, but subtracting it would be difficult once the cabinetry was buitt. The mock-up was worthwhile, as the mechanism works well in the finished cabinets.

Bifold doors don't hide the built-ins For years Gene had been hanging on to

a few rolls of galvanized corrugated metal that he

bought at a garage sale. When we built our interior doors, we decided the metal would be just right for the panels, but we had a hard time finding complementary wood for the sticking_ Finally, we tried another salvaged material, mahogany backerboard, and we were satisfied.

A backerhoard is the center slab of wood left over after veneer has been sliced from the log. Gene once salvaged thousands of board feet of mahogany backerboard from a veneer factory. It is used all over the house, including the rear exterior siding.

The door$ in the library incorporate CI space.!>avir'l9 idea as well. We didn't want an open door to rest against and obscure the cabinetry, so we decided to make bifold doors. We used one pair of Soss hinges (Hafele No_ 341.07.572; 540 each) per door. Using Hafele's router template to install the hinges made for an easy fit. A bullet catch at the top center of the door and a regular lodtset hold it well in the dosed position.

Traditional styling from a range of inspiration The exterior details are drawn equally from the carriage houses in the neighborhood and the row houses on our side of the street, Salvaged stone and brick cladding are traditional materials on Lancaster, Pa., row houses, the entry and garage doors are reminiscent of a carriage house, and the copper shingling is inspired by an article in an old issue of Fine Homebuilding (#43).

--- ------

COPPER SHINGLES ddd d modern tWist to a traditional stone and brtck row-houSE! pxtgnor

the lim !loor has .IppTuxim.ud y 1600 sq. ft. of li vi ng ~p3ec. including a full bathroom and an o~n living, dl n_ i n~, and k itchen area, Ml there's ample room for singlestory living.

Hatf of the house is in a historic district When it e:une to the exterior, we work ed with Joan to choose materials and details that we liked and that would satisfy L..1nc.'lSter's Historical Architectur,d Review Board (H ARB). As an architectu re student, Joan had drawn 50m~ of The C':1rriage houses on our street, and for 31 years, Gene has made his living restoring historic homt:S. We were in good h,m<is in our (luest to pl~_'iC HARK

.( 'here was no question that most of the exterior should be brick like the reSt of rhe houx:s on our side of the street. lim mosl of Ihme homc~ also h av~ decorative wood or asbotO!! sh ingl e~ on the gable ends. B«-ausc the gable ends on our h UUM: .m: not exposed, we dr:cidccl to

mimic this feature with copper shingles on the two-story b;,y window and on the cliPola.

We dbo u.-.eJ n:cyc1td Mone. trdditiuoally pointed, as an e:l((~rior m.H~ri31. Our fronT door and p.1ncled overhead garage door lIuitatc [he hinged and sliding doors on tht: late.l9th-ceOlm y carnage houscs in the neighborhood. 0

TalliS and Gene Shaw own and operate The Wooden Pl ane In lancaster, Pa. Photos by Brian Pontolil o.


A design/build team delivers a custom house with copper counters, oak floors, travert ine stairs, and a great outdoor space for $126 per sq . ft .

ouse BY CHRIS STEBBINS

A dozen years ago, Bill Brewe r and "'aoey Mannel l i left the hectic city

that Seattk had become and startt:d a ~imp l~r life In Eugene,

Ore. They bought a fixer-upper on a sloping: double lot in a neighborhood of smallish old homes aod big oa k trees on the

west side of town. The extra lot naturally evolved

lIlto the ir garden, hut ove r

the year~, Bill ami Nancy kept eyemg it as a potential site for a new home. By 2003, property values had gone up enough

to make the project feas ible. if some important conditions could be:: met: T h e n ew house

had to be a billarger than tht' old one, wit h more natural light, and it couldn't cost more

than their current mortgage.

The bask box, played w.lI. A partly sheltered deck makes an outdoor room that can be used in any weather. Upstairs, an open, airy den can be cOllvC'rtod into a guest room with a sliding door/wall. Photo facing page taken at A on floor plan; photo leh taken at R

As Bill and Nancy's deslgnerl builder, [ knew we could mea those conditions if we stuck to some ground rules. Their new house had to he simple in shape and had to USt standard building materials efficiently; where possiblt, thty had to do double

duty as both the structure of the house and its finished skin. Any spl urges on fi nishes had to be played in conspicuous places. Finally, taking- advantage of Bill's experience as a decorative painter, we had to have fun with color.

Get the homeowners involved in the design Instead of taking un this pruject in the traditional role of a designerlbuilder, I asked Rill and Nancy to have a go at being their own designers, with me as

SPRING/SUMMER 200~ 11 3

AN AFFORDABLE HOUSE BEGINS WITH THE FLOOR PLAN

Keeping the shapo of the house simple is part of the equation. At 24 ft. by 36 ft., liv ing

room

B. .... Denl

guest bedroom

the house takes advantage of materials that come in 4>(8 incromonts. Stacking one bath over

F"'--::" I

'x 0" ~+-- \ Up

.mother culs down on plumbing costs, and keeping hallways to a minimum gets the most from the available floor spilce.

Photos taken at lettered positions.

SPECS

I E "' ~ l:-~-

Bilth

Bedrooms: 2, plus 2 offices

BOIIthrooms: 2'1<

Size: 1728 sq. ft.

COlt : $126 per sq. ft.

Completed: 2005

Lo,atfon: Eugene. Ore.

Designe rl: Chris Stebbins and 8ill Brewer

Build er. Chris Stebbins

their guide. I wanted them to own the project from corxcption

ro completion. Our design process began with

sketches desCfibing spatial relationships and quickly moved into cardboard models that Hill cOll5tructed In order to understand the volumes and shape~ of the house.

We alw took walks around town to identify desirable features in Eugene's eclectic neighborhoods. Then we talked about


Closet

U

Office

Kitchen! d ining room

+ C

::: ::: ::. == :: === -=

Deck

• North Mast er bedroom

First f loor Se cond flo o r I

o 3 612ft.

12 ft. 10 in.

light and roomy High ceilings and derestory windows that run the length of the upstairs give the house a sense of airiness, even in O'e90n'5 sometimes cloudy climate.

which details or strategies would delIver the greatest return on the time and materials that it would take to make them.

Vle Slurted WIth somethIng simple; it graduully grew more complex and layered with details and expenses that weren't really necessary. Then we pared things down. "Happiness IS a place between tOO little and [00 much," according to a Finnish proverb. That drumbeat droye this project: Our goal was to arrive at a

design that was jmt enough and no more.

Build multipurpose spaces into a simple package The only hurdle in the design phase was Bill and Nancy 's semimental desire to have a hedroom for their college-age daughter when she comes home to visit. They also wanted a den, hut the budget wouldn't allow for both if we tackkd the design traditionally.

Instead, we compromised, crtating a !urge, open ~p;\Ce at the heaJ ufthe ~tain (floor plans ahove). It feels and functions like a den until you pull the 8-ft.-ta11 barn-type sliding door closed, turning the space into a private bedroom. Other dual-purpose spaces include the kitchen, which has a big table and duubles as the dining room; and:l.n upstairs bath, which is also the laundry.

Eventually, the house took shape as a simple two-story 24-ft.

A doublHoor connection. The eastern half of the downstairs is one big room, with 9·ft.-tal/ walls and a pair o( French doors t hat open onto the deck so that the two sp.3ces can mingle in nice weather. Photo above taken at C on floor plan; inset taken at D.

M A T E R I A L 5

M A K E

T H E

D I F F E R E N C E

Spaclt-saving sideboard. Shelves and a cabinet use a bit of the wall space between the powder room and the dining table.

Ston. work. The trayert;ne tile in the foyer gives way to a playful spread of c%rful Yinyl tile in the entry closet.

Loc.1 co/ot'"$. Olive-green plywood Siding below and coftugatoo metal cladding above reflect the dominant colors of the site.

SPRING/SUMMER 2006 1'5

A !4·in. f,wk~rf IC'''pts turned·down edge.)

¢"~-., ... ~,,," .. ,. i!r ,,,( .... ,",,=~ ..."...........~ ...... ------.• -...~ ....... - -, ,'-; -,. •• ,,,.,,~ ",.. .-. ')7" .... 0"

Strategic IlIlIm .

To minim ize seams, sealo". of countertop are arranged to meet in the center of d rop-ins like stoves and sinks.

Bend copper .&$ OtIC pillce for .."",/ a s(>amless b.lcksplash.

L %.in. plywood substrate

Plywood support Beneat h the cOPP'C' skin , 8 plywood substrateprovldn the strength necessary for the countenop to span the cabinuts .

by J6~ft. rectangle. It IS topped with two shed roofs, allowing :J. day ligh t -grabbing clerestory ove"- the upstain spine of the house. The deSign mlnl~

mi~cJ ' .... as le by !>Iicki ng [0 4-ft. modules, and we d immatro unncces~ar}' framing mcmbt:n by aligning rafters, beams, Joists,

anu stuus. Window!> and door~ were positIoned to fit within this efficient frame rather than the other way around. which (·..tll

waste lumlX'r. Even thoug h we were o n a

budget, we weren't wi lling to sacrifice quality. Every item we ustd will we<lr well and will ~ur~ \live de.~ ign trends. For longevity, we treated the framing m:J.I~r i

als with a horate-salt solution TO

inhibi t mold and dry rot.

Double-duty materials, and some surprisingly aHordable upgrades

The dowmt:u rs ccil ings arc 9 ft. to the bottom of the exposed 4x 10 heam~. Thi~ extra heigh. added litt le to the cost of materials but went a long wa}' toward creating a sense of ~paci()usness. W~ u~ed wire brushes muunted o n gnnding wheds to remove grad~ stamps and m ill marks from the beams, and to give them a pleasingly rough texture. The 2x6 decking ~rvcs as bOth c{"i lillg <lnd upstai r~ floor.

We also saved mOfley by using Breckenridge plywood siding (www.rfp:o.coml. I t comes in to-ft. lengthl> and hd$ patch-freE' veneer faces chat take p.:unt well. Brt:'Ckenrid ge costs more Ihdn othe r cxtcrior-gr.lde plywood. bur beca u se it serves 3S both ~heathing and siding. i r'~ worth the price in tht: long run. 'Ik upper story iscladwith Gal,

va lumc (www.acp~sp;lfl.com) sidmg_ This corrug.:w:d InctJI break s the house's tal l facade into separate horizontal b.lIlds.

Although nilivalumccosfs morc

than Breckenridge siding, it is virtually maintenance-free and helps to cool the house In the

summer by reflecting heat.

Copper counters in the kitchen seem like a luxurloUS splurge in a budget-minded house, but at 527 per sy. ft. (for the 16-oz. material usc:d hc:rc: ), thc:y w c: rc: less expensive than other pre

mium countertop materials. Another affordahle premium

material is travertine. Because

.' '\\ \ \ \ c.ei~s':a'o a long way to~ard

creatmg a spaciousness.

of th e high cost of traditional hardwood stair treads and the labor that it takes to install them, we looked for altern!ltives. We

found travertine tiles for less than $3 per sq. ft. They turned out to be easy to cut and forgiving to install as well as rolid to the touch and lovdy to look at.

Put OJ flexible outdoor space within easy reach

At 1 i28 sq. ft., Bill and Nancy's house is not larg-e. But /xcause

Is it a window or a pass-through1It's both, of course. Big windows overlooking the deck make it easy to hand pl<!!ters back <!nd forth. At the south end of the kitchen, a row of windows above the refrigerator/oven cabineh equalizes the light. Photo above taken at E on floor plan; photo left taken at F.

of its tall (ceilings and long slghtlines, it has a distinctly spacious feel. An important component of that ted is the concrete deck off the Erst floor. Rig windows overlooking the deck make it a real presence inside the house.

The deck is large enough to

hast a party and small enough to

have the intimate fed of a room.

Concrete w ears well here in the Norrhwc~t (often called the "Northwd" by locals) becau_~e

it doeSll't grow the moss that

pl!lgues wooden d ecks. Partly open to the sky and partly under a roof, the deck can be enjoyed in any weather, and the gnll doesn't have to wait for a dear

evening [0 he fired up. n

Chris Stebbins is a designerl

builder working in Eugene, Ore. For more information

about thiS house, ema il the

owners at billbrewer5@msn

.com. Photos by Charles

Miller.

!:>PRINutSU MME R 2006 111

We love good houses. That's what the annual I louses

issue is all about. Unfortunately,

afkr looking at all the sllhmi.~

sions, we always end up with more

material than we can use. To show

our audience more of these exem

plary projects, we're including

them in th is department. P lease

write to tell us what you think, or

better yet, suhmit your own house

for next year's issue. The deadline

is July 1,2006.

120 FINF HUMEBUILDING

SPOTLIGHTING READERS' WORK

STREET-FRONT REFLECTION Separated by a narrow public lane, the facades of these two new houses mirror each other to create liisual unity. The larger house on the left is for the homeowners; the smaller is for guests. Design: Beinfield Architects, South NOlV'lalk, Conn. Construction: D.M. Brown Builders, NOlV'lalk, Conn. Photo; Robert Benson

PAYING HOMAGE TO THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH Modeled after Jefferson Davis's Beauvoir

House. this raised cottage is detailed with both salvaged and reproduced materials (photos left. below), Craftsman Jack Abeel of Virginia used

sinker cypress to mill wainscot, chair rail. and crown molding that represent the 1840s Greekrevival style found in Davis's home. Desig n/construction: Jesse Weaver, Palm Coast, Fla. Photos: Jesse Weaver

A TEAHOUSE IN RANCH DRESSING Zoning restrictions mandated that this outbuilding's exterior match the neighborhood's dominating ranch aesthetic. Inside, however, West meets East. Traditional tatami mats cover the floor. woven strips of vertical-grain fir finish the ceiling, and nonaromatic cedar and bamboo detail the walls. Architect: Bob Poeschl, Santa Cruz, Calif. Construction: Jerry Hayward. Palo Alto, Calif .• and Takeshi Fukui, Monterey, Calif. Photo!>: Alan McEwan

SPRING/SUMMER lO06 121

CONTINUED

122 FINE HOMEHUl L Dl:-JG

BEACH LIVING IN STYLE One of three houses encircling a shared patio and entertainment area, this Craftsman home is a

cozy retreat on Whidbey Island. A curved roofl ine softens the structure's oth

erwise boxy shape, whi le a dramatic timber-frame upper balcony offers a

perfect spot to enjoy ocean views_ Design: Soli Terry Architects, Langley, Wash. Construction; John Rich,

VVhidbey Island, Wash. Photos: So li Terry Architects

LIFE-SIZE CONCRETE RELIEFS Washington designer Deb Asplund carried the exterior theme of arches and curves into the entryway. where the arched foyer is fla nked by 4·ft. by 8-ft. concrete rel iefs of Neptune and Venus. Design: VisionWorks by Deb Asplund, Whidbey Island, Wash. Concrete reliefs: Alexei Ka~antse ... , Climon, Wash. Construction: Eckberg ConWuction, VVhidbey

Island, Wash. Photos: Deb Asplund and Alexei Kazantsev

CARPORT OR BANDSTAND? Framed with Douglas-fir

glulams, this structure provides screening and enclosure for two auto

mobiles and reo:;reation

equipment. The airy design allows the pavil. ion to double as space for entertaining. Design; Pfaffmann + Associates PC, Pittsburgh Construction: Charles Struthers, Pi~urgh Photos: Carl Bergamini


design gallery CONTONU'D

124 F INE HOMERUlI.DlNG

PARTY BARN When adding a guest house to their farm in Texas, the homeowners wanted the new structure to respect the modest scale and materials of existing farm buildings. A pavilion-like addi

tion to the guest house, used for entertain ing, is made of steel. Corrugated Galvalume covers the upper half of the structure, and layered, translucent corrugated-PVC panels cover the lower half.

Design: Shipley Architects, Dallas Construction: Alex Moore, Hamilton, Texas photos: Charles D, Smith

Entries I n hopes of making next yea(s issue the best

ever, we're already scouting for homes that

represent the finest in craftsmanship, energyefficiency, and design. From amy cottages to urban lofts, seaside getaways to starter homes on a budget, we want to hear about your house.

If you think your house or one that you'lJe designed or built fits that description, just send us a selection of decent color photos (they don't have to be professional qU.3lity) and a brief letter explaining Vl/hy you think It should i:lppear in our HOUSES issue. We'll take it from there.

Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient capacity and postage for your materials, and mail It to: HOUSES, Fine Homebulldmg, 63 S. Main Sl, PO Box 5506,

NewtOVoln, a 06470-5506.

For advice on how to refine your submission, please VISIt:

www.finehomebullding.com/houses07

Entries deadline July 1 , 2006

~TheThunton Press W Ins~fJ(ion for h~ndl·on living-

BY BILL DUCKWORTH

differen ------

I f you want the warmth and beauty of rtal wood floors, choosing the species to

install isn't your only decision. You first have to decide whether to put down solid-wood or engineered flooring. The latter is made of real wood veneers glued to either a plywood or a high-density fiberlxJard core.

Both MJlid-wood and engineered products can be firstrate floors. Here are some

considerations to keep in mind.

FINISHED IN PLA.CE

OR PREFINISHEO?

Solid-wood flooring traditionally has come from the manuf.1cmrcr in tongue-and-groove strips without a finish. Installers nail the $trips in place. sand them flat, then apply a finish. The SC-~1ms are tight and flush.

Engineered-flooring manufacmrers changed all that when they introduced prefinished flouring; no sanding, no malodorous finishes, and the floor can be used right away. Traditional manufacturers followed suit, and now they offer prefinished solid-wood flooring as wdl. The trade-off is that lhe edges have to be rounded or

130 FINE HOMEHUILDING

beveled slightly to mask minute

differences in ht':ight between boards. The grooves can catch dirt. and tht': look may not be right for some tastes.

COSTS

Depending on thickness and spc1:ies, expect to pay $4 tv $1 0 per sq. ft. for solid wood, and $8 to$12 per 5q. ft. for engineered flooring. When you factor in the time and effort that sanding and finish ing add to a solid-wood fioor, the total cost\ for each type of floori ng are comparable.

STABILITY

Solid-wood fl oors an~ famous for growing cr;ICks between boards in winter and dosing back up in summer. You can minimi7.e this movement by

using narrow strip" of quartersawn lumocr. The wider the boards, the more shrinking and swell ing you can expect.

Engineered lumber, on the other hand, is q uite stable becau.sc of its plywood or fiberboard core. Th.1t makes it an excellent choice for areas that might be subject to high moisture, such as a finished fiO(Jr in a hasement over a concrete slab.

~Groove

ENGINEERED

PROS

• Mor. dlmen$ionally stable. especially when wider planks are used.

• Preflnlshed flooring is ready to use as 500n as it's Installed;

can be glued or used n II ~floating f1oor~

that lies atop the sub· floor without mechanical conneetion.

• More efficient use of materials: more environmentally friendly,

• Available in thinner thieknesses. so It can be applied over exi$!ing floors without raising thresholds,

CONS • Beeause veneers lift!

50 thin, some engi· neered flooring can be wonded and refin

ished only once or twiu, if that.

• Grooves can catch dirt,

l ---- Look (or thicker veneers, whicn aI/ow more refin i5ning , ... - .. ~

SOLID

PROS

• Thicker stock can be re5il1nded several times, down to just

above the top of the tongue (about '116 in.

of material). allowing more refinishings over its life span.

• Inherent eharlleter and baauty in the grain patterns

and color variety found in batches of wood milled from dIfferent trees.

Maple

• Slightly ress expensive than the equivalent thickness of engineered flooring of the same species.

CONS • Fewer sizes,

species, and

Prefinished solid·wood

floors combine some of Ihe advantllges

of bOlh typf15 of flo oring.

grades than engin.eTl!ld flooring.

• Must be nailed down, and typically sanded and finished in place.

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READER SEIIVICE NO. 124

what'sthe

difference? CON"HU'D

• RECESSED LIGHTING

IC or non-IC?

hen my wife and I built an ~~""""J,,(~~~~=~~~~f::~,="_ addition to an 80-year-old

hou$e, we resolved early on to

include plenty of light in the new space. We decided to go with recessed fixtures: there when you need the light, tucked out of the

way when you don't; and nothing hanging

down to collect dust. Then I discovered that choosing light

fixtures i.like shopping in a supermarket.

There are simply too many choices: New construction or retrofit to an existing ceiling? Incandescent or fluorescent? Maximum wattage? Can diameter? White or black

b.1ffIes? IC or non-Ie? That last choice is an

easy one to make becau:lie if" dictated by code, depending on where the fixture will

be installed.

Ie stands for insulilted ceiling or Insulation contact. Because light fixtures can gener

ate a lot of heat, Ie fixtures are designed to dissipate that heat to pr ..... nt fir ••. Here's

what section E.3904.9 of the International Residential Code says;

"Reces5l1d lumina ire installation. Thermal insulation skllil not be installed above II rec;eued luminalre or within 3 inc;hes

06 mm) of the recused luminal ... ', endosure, wiring compartment or ballut except

• • ~ '\ ... :9 r ,.

TOOLS ON DEMAND. 11ft .... gi ... )II'1d-..la 0.. ultUule

lolation to lui., haod tools orpJlized ud acanihl._ b_ ...... _ ......

132 FINE H OMEBUI L DING

whllre suc;h luminaire is Identified tor contact with insulation."

Designs vary by manufacturer, but the standard IC fixture is a can within another sheet-metal can or box (drawing above left). Because of the additional detailing, Ie fix-

tures tend to cost mOf'e than non-IC fhctures,

but not much more--often just a few dollars. ~ And because )'01.1 can installlC fixtures in r" contact with insulation, you don't lose money on heating and air-conditioning cost,.

? • CONTINUEO

• CHIMNEYS

Masonry or metal?

heth~r you're building a new house or retrofitting an existing one to accommodate a traditional fireplace or a woodstove, you've got two basic chimney choices:

masonry (brick, stone, concrete block) or prefabricated ml;.':tal

Woodff/lmG GnclOIUfG

(SL1inlcss-stcd flue pipes). ./--"

Footing requiree

~;;::.;;;'~==~~ No ~pedal To carry theif immcn§e weight, masonry chimneys require a separate concrete footing. Smoke is vented through a flue liner made ofhcat-rc5istam clay dut is mortared cleanly at me joints and buried within the brick, block, or stone structure. (Incidentally, round liners arc morc efficient than square or rtttangular ones.) The labor-intensive construction of masonry chimneys drives up their cost to roughly twice that of prefabricated alternatives. In the Northeast, a single-story brick chimney with one flue costs about $8,000 to 11 0,000,

Prefabricated metal chimneys, or stovepipes, are either doublewalled with insulation between the two walls, or triple-walled and vented by air to dissipate heat. Metal chimneys are hung within a woocl-framc enclosure, so they don't require' a concrete foocing; for

Ugly Heaters?


13.( PI :-.IE HOM£RU1LDIl'\G

footing required

\-t+

that reason, they may be a better choice for retrofits. Prefabricated chimneys arc ex~nsivc, but the labor to install them is a lot less than that for masonry. Ashley Eldridge, of the Chimney Safety Institute of America (www.csia.org),&1ysthatamasonrychimncy will last longer than a prefabricated one. "Owners of prefabricated chimneys should think ofthl'm a.~ an appliance, something that will need to he serviced or replaced."

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drawingboard LESSONS IN RESIDENTIAL DESIGN BY JERRI HOLAN

Designing living rooms for furniture

Del

living room without furnitun~ is just space. It mighl be a great space with a fabulous view or a gorgeous fireplace, but without fllrnishing~,

there's no place lur people in it. Furniture not only gives people a comfort

able place to sit, but it also defines activities that occur within a space. Consequently, you should idcmify how you will use your living room ocforc settling on it.~ size or buying new furniture. For example, if you read a lot, club chairs and good lighting will be critical hving-room components. If the room has a dominant fireplace, there should he ~pace for a circulation path and a furmtun: grouping in front of the hearth.

Furniture layout needs to I."ocourage activity, not inhibit ie. Just like kitchen work triangles, some living-room configurations WOrk and some don't. To start planning an dficient and comfortable living room, analyze circulation, wmdow locations, and practical issUe5 such as furniture sizes and comfortable conversation distances.

Center furniture groups on a focal point Every living room should have ;a focal point, a central object that creates a first impression when someone enters the room. The focal point can ~ a part of the room, such as a fireplace or a bay window, or it can be an added decorative dement, such as a painting, a sculpture, a piano, or a large antique.

Funaionalliving rooms have a hierarchy of activity spaces, with the primary furniture grouping centered on a focal point. If the room is large enough, IDcorporate secondary areas around the perimeter for more

140 FI N E HOMEBUILDING

-

,. -~/f

/~-.-'

,/ ,-pt-.... -.

DO

(

Plan the living room around a center of interest When you enter .. room, your eye should be drawn immedi(lteiy to something interesting and wGJcoming, in this case. a fireplace. The primary furniture grouping is arranged around this foca l point: an area rug helps to unify the furniture. If there's enough room, secondary seating areas offer spaces for more intimate or individual activitie$.

intimate conversations or for individuals to read (drawing p. 142). Typically located at one end of th~ room Of in a ('orner, ~econdary groupings allow ~imultancom 3ctivities or ld an individual be part of a group yet not in it (for example, reading a newspaper while oth~rs waoch TV).

Se.1ting areas should lx- armnged roughly in circles so that traffic paths don't disrupt groups or activities. C'.-orners arc especially good locations as they naturally encourage circular scating configurations. For similar reasons, corner fireplaces are cozy and intimate. Choose a v<lriety of chain (big-, small, $Oft, and hard) to satisfy different people and different moods.

TV or no TV? Televisions compete with the hearth for the center of atlention in today's living rooms.

Which should he-: rhe focal polllt? Ifteb'jsion is not a regular part of your lifestyle, bani5h the gadget to another f(X)m. However, iftdevlSlOn IS important and if you're willing to invest in a flat-screen model, a go(xl solution is to locate the TV in a recess above the fireplaee. Ifthat\ not an option, I design a secondary area for television viewing (dwwing p. 144).

When there IS no competing frx:al point in the living room, the primary furniture grouping c<ln be centered 011 the TV. Typically, I'll place the set 111 a cabinet or an antique armoire, or plan an entertainment cemer arollnd it, completc with shelves and comfortable seats.

For optimal TV viewing, the distance between you and the screen should be about 3 times the screen size. (Screen sizes are m~asur~d on the diagon<ll.) 111erdore,

drawingboard _______ .:~ ______ CON TIN U E D

A sequence of sitting areas The focal point Of tnis medium-size lilling room, the fireplace. i~ surrounded by the primary seating area. Corners of the room are good 10«llioI"lS for secondary actiyity areas because they ~re outside main circulation paths. In this plan, secondary areas are close enough to the main furniture grouping to encourage conversation.

5 ft. to 7 it. for comforillble conversation


M com""~ good for circular seatjng.

22 ft.

Firep lace

!DID 3'h-ft.-minimum clearance for main traHie path

a 10-[L di>[;mcc is ideal for a 40-in. screen, and 6 ft. to 8 ft. for smaller TV s.

Know your furniture dimensions Any living room can be arranged tocowurage human activity. A small bungalow-size worn with unly om: furnilure grouping can be as compact as 12 ft. square (drawing p. 146). A formalli"ing room with three or four sep • .1fate activity areas caIl be 30 ft. by 35 ft. or larger. For either room to work,

21 ft. however, it must have comfortable space for furniture groupings JnJ circulation.

Room size and furniture size must work together: A large room should contain large furniture, while smaller furniture belongs in a smaller space. Like hou~<..~, contemporary furniture has grown much larger over the past 2'5 years. In the 1960s, an average sofa measured abom 6 fe. wide and 2 ft. 6 in. deep. A trip to any furniture store today reveals sofas 7 ft. to 8 ft. wide and 3 f1. 6 in. deep. To determine the furniture

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drawingboard CONTINUED

size that's suitable for your living room, remember to include space around each plcce. For g{xxl conversation, I rcco!ll!l1rnd

'5 ft. to 7 ft. bt~tween sofas and chairs. Circulation space is another factor to

consider. Although you'll have to increa~ the width oftraHic lanes in large rooms to

keep th(' scale right, (ert-lin clearances are a good ~taning point. Main tcarlic lanes (from entry to primary grouping or to

another room) should be at least 3 ft. 6 in. wide (a foot wider is even better). The width of minor traffic lanes (from fireplace to secondary sitting area) can be as narrow as 2 ft. to , ft. Clearances lx:twcen furnishing:; are driycn by practicality. Between low objects, say a sofa and a table, 18 in. is about right. Between waIst-high and tailer objects, 24 in. to 30 in. is fine. Where pos$ible, u~e end tabb rather than coffee tables to hold drinks and food or [0 store OOoks and magazmes. Besides being a kneeknocker, a low table between sofas and

Fireplace

"---

Minor tn. Hie pilth$ are narrower than primary plltns.

STANDARD No. 12: We remove every defect from every board every time.

• That's just part

144 FI N E HOME BUI LDING

o

End lable~ Dre preferable to Coffee tables ,

30 fl. -------

Koop furnituro (lway from entry.

~o 30 ft .

Optimal viewing distance is 311 screen size.

Two focal points in the living room Although t",levisions often compete with fireplaces for attention, they can be arranged to complement each other. In this floor plan, the firepl~ce remains tho focus of tho primary furniture grouping: the secondary TV area is smaller but still comfortable. The remaining corners of the room arlt ilrranged for one· or two-person activities.

drawingboard CONTINUED

Windows make good focal points In a small room (top drawing), framing 11 view in 11 window creates 11 focal point when there isn't space to introd"ce one. The scating arrangement keeps required circulation spa.:;", to 11 minimum and even allows for

Furniture grouping centered on window

Desk chai, can join main gfolJping.

r----- 11 'Iz ft. ----l

o

•

1-Plenty of clearance I to window

12% ft.

1 Two focal

chairs makes passing drinks d ifticult and also distracts from conversations.

Take advantage of windows \\'indows arc integral components of most living rooms. Ideally, they should frame views andlor be a focal point. Ifrhc room has a spectacular vicw, a good layout indudc5 seating dose to the windows or, Octter yet, a window scat.

a secondary activity area with a built-in desk. When there's mora space, two focal points are possible (bottom drawing). The view out the bay window serves as the focal point during the day, while ilt night the piano takes center stage. A window seat completes the cirde of til" furniture grouping.

Seating akove for im individual

~ ~ I Windows also provide natural light and

ventilation that furniture arrangements should take advantage of. Unless the wiodowsills .arc quite high, placing furniture in front of \vindows typically is a poor idea. It blocks views, hinders access to the windows, and interferes with the operation of drapes and LllIlds.

bl ==~~==~U I-- 22 ft.

Iltsigning aDd Manufacturiog Poot & Beam H ...... Additions & Specialty Buildings Sine< 1972

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146 FINE J-IOMEBUILVIi\G

Jerri Holan is an architect specializing in preservation work in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her Web sito::> is WWVI'.holanarchltects

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An en.,gy .. fflcMftt ~ makes the most of the sun's light and heat to cut down on fossil-fuel consumption, p . 84.

A lunny outdoor space iSlu5t one of many improvements to an updated WOf1,;&r's bungalow in Berkeley. Calif. p. 95 .

Artfully squee.ud into a brownstone neighborhood, this new home includes both a garage and an apartment. p . 74 .

IN THIS ISSUE OF

HOUSES

Serious dollar stretching results in an affordable house with copper counters, oak floors, and a COrj outdoor ~ •. p . 112.

A copper-d.d C\lpoI_ funnels daylight into the center of a row house brimming with finely crilked details. p. 106.

A new breed of 'pee house in Freeport, Maine, pro ... es that today's homebuyers care about lowering their energy brils. p. 68.

On a prominent point in the San Juan Islands, a ... acatioo house combines durable materials and a historic style. p. 100.

Th. bank barn is reborn in a Vermont ... acation house with a spectacular hlgh-ceilinged Ii ... ing room. p. 80.

Home ,~t off'lat could be the slogan for a house that's both home for the family and woncspace for the parents. p. 90.

Fine.homebuilding.summer

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