This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Lac La Belle - Modern Brick Lake Home with Dock and Boathouse

Vetter Architects

A tea pot, being a vessel, is defined by the space it contains, it is not the tea pot that is important, but the space. Crispin Sartwell Located on a lake outside of Milwaukee, the Vessel House is the culmination of an intense 5 year collaboration with our client and multiple local craftsmen focused on the creation of a modern analogue to the Usonian Home. As with most residential work, this home is a direct reflection of it’s owner, a highly educated art collector with a passion for music, fine furniture, and architecture. His interest in authenticity drove the material selections such as masonry, copper, and white oak, as well as the need for traditional methods of construction. The initial diagram of the house involved a collection of embedded walls that emerge from the site and create spaces between them, which are covered with a series of floating rooves. The windows provide natural light on three sides of the house as a band of clerestories, transforming to a floor to ceiling ribbon of glass on the lakeside. The Vessel House functions as a gallery for the owner’s art, motorcycles, Tiffany lamps, and vintage musical instruments – offering spaces to exhibit, store, and listen. These gallery nodes overlap with the typical house program of kitchen, dining, living, and bedroom, creating dynamic zones of transition and rooms that serve dual purposes allowing guests to relax in a museum setting. Through it’s materiality, connection to nature, and open planning, the Vessel House continues many of the Usonian principles Wright advocated for. Overview Oconomowoc, WI Completion Date August 2015 Services Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture

Sennett Residence

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Modern Exterior Home Ideas

Never underestimate the importance of a first impression! Home exteriors are the very first thing neighbors, visitors and prospective buyers see, so you want your house front design to impress. Whether you are considering an exterior remodel to upgrade your front elevation and resale value, or simply want to enhance your home’s aesthetic with a fresh paint color, choosing the right modern exterior design for your home is an important undertaking. When exploring various minimalist exterior ideas, it is important to remember there are different phases with a home exterior makeover. Exterior remodeling is not much different than interior remodeling — both projects require careful consideration of all the components involved. If you're starting from scratch, browse exterior photos and determine what kind of home exterior design ideas you are drawn to, and which ones would be compatible with your current space. Once that's decided, consider materials and colors. Your overall home and neighborhood style will generally guide these selections, but your personal taste and resale ability should also be taken into consideration. When this phase is complete, you can then move on to researching exterior decorating ideas! Save your favorite exterior pictures to your Houzz ideabook and take notes on what kind of decorations you like and what would potentially work for your space. Adding some modern finishing touches to the facade, like exterior shutters, always guarantees a personalized, lived-in look, whereas something like exterior lighting is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Which home exterior design style will work for me?

There is a huge range of exterior designs to choose from — whether you're a traditionalist, minimalist or trendsetter, there is an architectural style that will work for you. If you like an old-fashioned look, consider a Victorian, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor, Cape Cod or Craftsman home. For sleek, modern exteriors, think about a Prairie style, art deco, modern or midcentury design. Alternatively, if you want your home to have regional character, go with a mediterranean, Southwestern or tropical style. Ultimately, consider your location, style, budget and current home layout before finalizing your exterior remodeling ideas and plans.

What minimalist exterior house colors and materials should I use?

The materials you end up using for your exterior remodel are often determined by the overall style of the house. When perusing exterior ideas for more traditional homes, you’ll notice that exteriors are usually comprised of brick and wood shingles, while stone and metal siding are popular contemporary options for more modern homes. If you’re on a tight budget, vinyl siding is a more affordable option; if money is not an issue, stone is beautiful but will cost quite a bit more. Although there is some leeway in the materials you use, be sure they accurately reflect your home’s overall style. If you're not quite ready for a full-on remodel, there are still several exterior ideas you can put to work. Simple things like changing up the trim and paint colors will make a noticeable impact — try to pick a neutral primary color, like beige, brown or gray. If you want to stray from the norm with bright accents, try painting your front door or garage door something bright, such as red, green, blue or yellow.

How do I decorate my modern home exterior?

As you consider various exterior decorating ideas, you’ll notice that less is more; a few Bauhaus decorative elements spice up your home's architectural style but too many can make your exterior design look cluttered and chaotic. House numbers are a great way to add personality; you can try a unique font or brighter colors for a different look. Mailboxes, doormats and unique exterior lighting also help enhance your house's facade, and when the holiday season rolls around, don't forget about decorations! Landscaping is also key to a well designed modern exterior, so choose plants and hardscaping that will play nicely with the decor to provide a welcoming look.