Search results for "Gaining" in Home Design Ideas

The goal of this master bath transformation was to stay within existing footprint and improve the look, storage and functionality of the master bath. Right Wall: Along the right wall, designers gain footage and enlarge both the shower and water closet by replacing the existing tub and outdated surround with a freestanding Roman soaking tub. They use glass shower walls so natural light can illuminate the formerly dark, enclosed corner shower. From the footage gained from the tub area, designers add a toiletry closet in the water closet. They integrate the room's trim and window's valance to conceal a dropdown privacy shade over the leaded glass window behind the tub. Left Wall: A sink area originally located along the back wall is reconfigured into a symmetrical double-sink vanity along the left wall. Both sink mirrors are flanked by shelves of storage hidden behind tall, slender doors that are configured in the vanity to mimic columns. Back Wall: The back wall unit is built for storage and display, plus it houses a television that intentionally blends into the deep coloration of the millwork. The positioning of the television allows it to be watched from multiple vantage points – even from the shower. An under counter refrigerator is located in the lower left portion of unit.
Anthony Bonisolli Photography

The stained shutters come in a variety stains and are a perfect solution for specialty shaped windows. Our shutters are flexible in design and let you decide how you want your shutters to operate and allows you to enjoy more view than ever before with louvers as large as 4.5” (plantation shutters). Our wood shutters have a satin coating, protecting them from common spills and making cleanup as simple as dusting with a soft, dry cloth. We have several types of shutters to match your needs and budget.
We have FREE in-home consultation and FREE showroom appointments. You can also stop in our showroom anytime during our normal business hours. Our professional Design Specialists are never pushy and believe in putting the client’s needs first. Give us a call today to get started on your shutter project today.
317-273-8343
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Indianapolis, In 46234
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*Evenings & Saturdays by Appointments

Example of a black floor and double-sink doorless shower design in Boston with dark wood cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, a hinged shower door, white countertops and a built-in vanity
Find the right local pro for your project

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

Photography: Philip Ennis Productions.
Example of a large minimalist master white tile and subway tile marble floor and gray floor walk-in shower design in New York with a two-piece toilet, white walls, a pedestal sink, flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and marble countertops
Example of a large minimalist master white tile and subway tile marble floor and gray floor walk-in shower design in New York with a two-piece toilet, white walls, a pedestal sink, flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and marble countertops

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary 3/4 blue tile, white tile and matchstick tile alcove shower remodel in Philadelphia with raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray walls, an undermount sink, granite countertops and a hinged shower door

jeremy bittermann
Inspiration for a contemporary exterior home remodel in Portland
Inspiration for a contemporary exterior home remodel in Portland

Jim Westphalen
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary formal and open concept concrete floor and gray floor living room remodel in Burlington with white walls, a wood stove and no tv
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary formal and open concept concrete floor and gray floor living room remodel in Burlington with white walls, a wood stove and no tv

Luxury living done with energy-efficiency in mind. From the Insulated Concrete Form walls to the solar panels, this home has energy-efficient features at every turn. Luxury abounds with hardwood floors from a tobacco barn, custom cabinets, to vaulted ceilings. The indoor basketball court and golf simulator give family and friends plenty of fun options to explore. This home has it all.
Elise Trissel photograph

Shawn-Paul Luchin Photography
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary rooftop deck remodel in San Francisco with a roof extension
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary rooftop deck remodel in San Francisco with a roof extension

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

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

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing
7RR-Ecohome:
The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together?
The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot.
Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

The client purchased this property with grand plans of renovating the entire place; from top to bottom, and from inside to outside. And while the inside canvas was very generous and even somewhat forgiving, the outside space would be anything but.
We wanted to squeeze in as much seating space as possible in their limited courtyard area, without encroaching on the already compact-sized pool. The first and most obvious solution was to get rid of the trees and shrubs that separated this house from its zero-lot-line neighbor. With the addition of Lueder limestone pavers, this new area alone would free up nearly 120 additional square feet, which happened to be the perfect amount of space for a mobile gas fire pit and sectional sofa. And this would make for the perfect place to enjoy the afternoon sunset with the implementation of a custom-built metal pergola standing above it all.
The next problem to overcome was the disconnected feel of the existing patio; there were too many levels of steps and stairs, which meant that it would have been difficult to have any sort of traditional furniture arrangement in their outdoor space. Randy knew that it only made sense to bring in a wood deck that could be mated to the highest level of the patio, thus creating and gaining the greatest amount of continuous, flat space that the client needed. But even so, that flat space would be limited to a very tight "L-shape" around the pool. And knowing this, the client decided that the larger space would be more valuable to them than the spa, so they opted to have a portion of the deck built over it in order to allow for a more generous amount of patio space.
And with the edge of the patio/deck dropping off almost 2 feet to the waterline, it now created the perfect opportunity to have a visually compelling raised wall that could be adorned with different hues of plank-shaped tiles. From inside the pool, the varying shades of brown were a great accent to the wood deck that sat just above.
However, the true visual crowning jewel of this project would end up being the raised back wall along the fence, fully encased in a large format, 24x24 slate grey tile, complete with a custom stainless steel, square-tube scupper bank, installed at just the right height to create the perfect amount of water noise.
But Randy wasn't done just yet. With two entirely new entertaining areas opened up at opposite ends of the pool, the only thing left to do now was to connect them. Knowing that he nor the client wanted to eliminate any more water space, he decided to bring a new traffic pattern right into the pool by way of two "floating", Lueder limestone stepper pads. It would be a visually perfect union of both pool and walking spaces.
The existing steps and walkways were then cut away and replaced with matching Lueder limestone caps and steppers. All remaining hardscape gaps were later filled with Mexican beach pebble, which helped to promote a very "zen-like" feel in this outdoor space.
The interior of the pool was coated with Wet Edge Primerastone "Blue Pacific Coast" plaster, and then lit up with the incredibly versatile Pentair GloBrite LED pool lights.
In the end, the client ended up gaining the additional entertaining and seating space that they needed, and the updated, modern feel that they loved.

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

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

The client purchased this property with grand plans of renovating the entire place; from top to bottom, and from inside to outside. And while the inside canvas was very generous and even somewhat forgiving, the outside space would be anything but.
We wanted to squeeze in as much seating space as possible in their limited courtyard area, without encroaching on the already compact-sized pool. The first and most obvious solution was to get rid of the trees and shrubs that separated this house from its zero-lot-line neighbor. With the addition of Lueder limestone pavers, this new area alone would free up nearly 120 additional square feet, which happened to be the perfect amount of space for a mobile gas fire pit and sectional sofa. And this would make for the perfect place to enjoy the afternoon sunset with the implementation of a custom-built metal pergola standing above it all.
The next problem to overcome was the disconnected feel of the existing patio; there were too many levels of steps and stairs, which meant that it would have been difficult to have any sort of traditional furniture arrangement in their outdoor space. Randy knew that it only made sense to bring in a wood deck that could be mated to the highest level of the patio, thus creating and gaining the greatest amount of continuous, flat space that the client needed. But even so, that flat space would be limited to a very tight "L-shape" around the pool. And knowing this, the client decided that the larger space would be more valuable to them than the spa, so they opted to have a portion of the deck built over it in order to allow for a more generous amount of patio space.
And with the edge of the patio/deck dropping off almost 2 feet to the waterline, it now created the perfect opportunity to have a visually compelling raised wall that could be adorned with different hues of plank-shaped tiles. From inside the pool, the varying shades of brown were a great accent to the wood deck that sat just above.
However, the true visual crowning jewel of this project would end up being the raised back wall along the fence, fully encased in a large format, 24x24 slate grey tile, complete with a custom stainless steel, square-tube scupper bank, installed at just the right height to create the perfect amount of water noise.
But Randy wasn't done just yet. With two entirely new entertaining areas opened up at opposite ends of the pool, the only thing left to do now was to connect them. Knowing that he nor the client wanted to eliminate any more water space, he decided to bring a new traffic pattern right into the pool by way of two "floating", Lueder limestone stepper pads. It would be a visually perfect union of both pool and walking spaces.
The existing steps and walkways were then cut away and replaced with matching Lueder limestone caps and steppers. All remaining hardscape gaps were later filled with Mexican beach pebble, which helped to promote a very "zen-like" feel in this outdoor space.
The interior of the pool was coated with Wet Edge Primerastone "Blue Pacific Coast" plaster, and then lit up with the incredibly versatile Pentair GloBrite LED pool lights.
In the end, the client ended up gaining the additional entertaining and seating space that they needed, and the updated, modern feel that they loved.

Everyone loves to hang out in the kitchen, and the Kitchen Island from the Magnolia Home collection will add a nostalgic focal point to gather round. Inspired by a vintage kitchen worktable, it has a worn-in character with its distressed Bench wood stain finish. Also available in Jo's White painted finish.
- Sheet metal top in aged zinc finish.
- Wide tapering legs.
- Towel bars on both ends.
- Open bottom shelf.
- Drawers for kitchen tool storage.
- Metal bar hardware in black finish.
The beautiful Magnolia Home line was designed exclusively by Joanna Gaines to convey her fresh, unique design style that embodies her lifestyle of home and family. Each piece falls onto a specific genre: Boho, Farmhouse, French Inspired, Industrial, Primitive or Traditional. Painted finishes and wood stains are offered that replicate the look of age-worn vintage patinas.
This piece is part of her Farmhouse genre, which is welcoming, comfortable and timelessly fresh. It features charming details such as scalloped trim, farmhouse-style turnings and age-worn finishes. Farmhouse is a nostalgic look into the way things used to be; how people worked with their hands, came home, ate well, and rested. It's a story of times past, how things used to be made, how they used to look. This style is the simplicity and timelessness of the past.
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