This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

This past new home client's needs in the kitchen changed over the course of 12 years, so we completely renovated and expanded kitchen, adding onto the back of the house with full foundation underneath.

A one-and-a-half story home in Minneapolis' Hale neighborhood got a whole lot bigger when we helped these clients add on a screened-in porch. Photo by David J. Turner

Our new layout created a much lighter and more finished look in keeping with the house and the clients' personal style.
Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional partial sun front yard stone formal garden in DC Metro.

This client wanted more garden than grass. The front landscape was expansive enough to create dimensions and levels with retaining walls and moss rock.

Large elegant backyard patio photo in San Francisco with no cover

Our clients came to us with a dream to create a home that was beautiful, filled with classic details yet embody a Modern French aesthetic. We started with the foundation, selecting materials that would be the building blocks for our design. One of the joys of this project was the client's love of color, primarily in hues of blue. A special moment in the kitchen with its jewel-like Azul Macauba Quartzite countertop, brass hardware, and sailor’s coat blue island. As we are designing for a family, practical touches along with luxury elements were a must. Creative thinking was used to reimagine the entry closet into a multi-purpose space including the laundry, drop zone, and pantry. The master bath was filled with a classic design from the scones, wallcoverings to crystal hardware...all to transport you to a french apartment overlooking the streets of Paris. A modern twist inserted was the approach for the family room fireplace. The clean lines of stacked stone were the perfect touch. Our clients' dream home became reality in our Modern French Project and will be loved for years to come.

Another project where the client was looking for more space and ended up just using a portion of the existing foundation. They ended up with a spacious variation on a center hall colonial allowing them to stay in their desired neighborhood.

We used: Custom cherry cabinetry in Arts & Crafts Shaker style by Kabinart in Boulder and Espresso stains. Liberty Hardware Venetian bronze 1-1/2" cabinet knobs. KitchenAid Architect II Series 22 CF counter-depth French door refrigerator. KitchenAid Architect Series II 27" convection single wall oven. KitchenAid 36" 6-burner dual fuel freestanding commercial-style range. KitchenAid Architect II Series 24" dishwasher. Sharp Insight Pro Series 24" built-in microwave drawer (Model #KB6524PS). Crystorama Solaris 12" wide pendant lights in English bronze. Granite countertops in Brown Fantasy. 3"x6" polished marble backsplash. Paint colors: Walls: Glidden Silver Cloud 30YY 63/024 Ceilings/Trims/Doors: Glidden Swan White GLC23 Robert B. Narod Photography

The Nance bungalow project was a pure labor of love. This childhood home of our client was rebuilt from the pier foundation up and fully remodeled. We feel that this is a beautiful example of the craftsmanship and attention to detail we put into all our work.

Our client’s vision was to create a combination patio/walkway area to enjoy all season lakeside viewing and entertainment activities. The project features a raised patio/walkway, two radius benches, cobblestone edging along the garden, curbing and post treatment along the driveway, foundation plantings and a corner garden. Biz Reed

The Nance bungalow project was a pure labor of love. This childhood home of our client was rebuilt from the pier foundation up and fully remodeled. We feel that this is a beautiful example of the craftsmanship and attention to detail we put into all our work.

David Patterson Photography
Example of a large arts and crafts yellow brick gable roof design in Denver with a shingle roof

Custom screen porch features a cozy stone fireplace, cathedral ceilings, and vinyl 4-track windows. A flagstone walkway wraps around the porch, leading to the front of the home. ~Mokena, IL http://chicagoland.archadeck.com/