by 450 Architects, Inc.
San Francisco, CA, US 94103 · 43 photos
450 architects - Sonoma Residence
http://450architects.com/projects/sonoma_residence

The owners of this modest 2,300 square foot country home wanted to minimize their impact on the Earth and establish a lasting connection to nature. The project employed local craftsmen and used natural, recycled, locally sourced materials. The sunroom features an earthen mud floor made from the soil of the site! The house employs passive solar design concepts; the sunroom, situated at the center of the house, captures the warmth of the sun and radiates it throughout the living spaces. With sustainable building techniques, sensitive attention to the surrounding environment, and framed views of the exterior from every interior space, this house celebrates its site and connection to the land.

 
What Houzz contributors are saying:
"If you have a grove of redwood trees, you'll get cool air sinking out of the trees and down to the ground," Parker says. "We designed the house to take advantage of that natural convection to cool it in the summertime." Passive solar design provides warmth. "It doesn't look like a typical passive solar house with big south-facing windows designed to soak up sun and heat," he says. "We studied the length of every overhang to see how much sun and heat you're going to get from them at every time of year and day." The house also has a radiant hydronic heating system to provide additional warmth.
What Houzzers are commenting on:
added by leesalovesme to screened porch (4 weeks ago)
I like this for a lakehouse
added by campbellclan to campbellclan's ideas (8 weeks ago)
Colors
added by judemeandering to judemeandering's ideas (3 months ago)
like the floor windows under openers
added by awdodd1 to awdodd1's ideas (6 months ago)
like red trim
added by walseth to walseth's Favorites (9 months ago)
Passive solar
added by ls1016 to ls1016's ideas (10 months ago)
windows/no panes
added by jkduis to cottage ranch (11 months ago)
interesting windows
added by Diane Bay to painting ideas (11 months ago)
windows for cottage 7 painting
added by jerwallentine to Virgin property (11 months ago)
Passive solar, corten steel panels
added by mizyx to room layouts (12 months ago)
Wrap around windows, sun room, French doors
added by borton to borton's ideas (13 months ago)
nice house.
added by keciag to Outdoors and Entryways (14 months ago)
If you have a grove of redwood trees, you'll get cool air sinking out of the trees and down to the ground," Parker says. "We designed the house to take advantage of that natural convection to cool it in the summertime." Passive solar design provides warmth. "It doesn't look like a typical passive solar house with big south-facing windows designed to soak up sun and heat," he says. "We studied the length of every overhang to see how much sun and heat you're going to get from them at every time of year and day." The house also has a radiant hydronic heating system to provide additional warmth.
added by lizpenniman to lizpenniman's ideas (14 months ago)
simple forest
added by innerdiva to innerdiva's ideas (20 months ago)
heating and cooling designs
added by wahineui to wahineui's ideas (21 months ago)
grove of trees as natural convection cooling. Passive solar designs. Studying the overhangs' lengths to see the amounts of sun & heat gotten 24/7. Radiant hydronic heating system.
added by masrullah to masrullah's Favorites (24 months ago)
Yes
added by 2lindylou to 2lindylou's ideas (2 years ago)
Cabin
added by eileeng to eileeng's ideas (2 years ago)
outdoor color/design
added by Bartolini Designs to paullb's ideas (2 years ago)
board formed concrete
added by Brenda Spencer to brendamspencer's ideas (2 years ago)
beautiful lots of windows
added by kerricameron to kerricameron's ideas (2 years ago)
idea of to floor windows with smaller - as our house does.
added by vmarin to vmarin's ideas (2 years ago)
vista de la casa.
added by colonialgp to Cabin ideas (3 years ago)
window idea but put two panes on top instead of bottom
added by teena to teena's ideas (3 years ago)
sunroom
added by tabuck to tabuck's ideas (3 years ago)
open windows