Wild View Farm includes a new “Forever home” (we deconstructed an existing house with a 90% landfill diversion rate), and enhancements to several working barns. The 80 acre site was an original homestead farm from the 1890’s. Both its buildings and soil had become severely degraded. The owners are working to holistically restore this property and make it a model of modern regenerative farming. They are planting hundreds of trees, re-introducing livestock and working with Dryland Agroecology Research and High Plains Permaculture to restore the soil. The -51 HERS rated home is not just energy-efficient - it’s a model of “Regenerative design”. The deep green house design included multiple challenges – foremost was how to create a Passive Solar design that also took full advantage of the massive views to the West. We solved it with an L shaped building that optimized passive and active solar strategies on the south face, then actively protected the western facade with a giant covered porch and tuned glazing. The home’s leading-edge energy package includes a Ground source heat pump, a large roof-mounted solar PV array, battery back-up, EV chargers, and Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), Energy Star Appliances and windows, a robust foam insulation shell and LED lighting. We also endeavored to craft a modern day interpretation of the farmhouse typology, with a low-slung simple gable-roofed form that would feel like it’s always been there. The exterior material palette of limestone, cementitious stucco and heavy timber gives it a rich Colorado Modern Farmhouse feel. The home is full of custom details like walls of vaulted glass to capture the sweeping mountain views, an AI Smart Home control system, a sleeping loft for kids and guests, a hard-working Butler’s Pantry, a gourmet outdoor kitchen, a pool & spa, a cozy office nook for reading, and a lovely built-in bench for morning coffee. Phase 2 of this project will include a Farmworker ADU and a full renovation of the existing historic barn. Built by Skycastle Construction. Interior Design by Kimball Modern and Rodwin Architecture. Landscaping by EDI. Photography by Dane Cronin Photo

The project began with the owner’s vision to create on their Atherton property a new home, reminiscent of the Mediterranean villas and gardens they loved to visit on European holidays. They wanted to create an oasis, a home that would nurture their creativity and foster a feeling of calm. The design creates this sense of transition right as you enter the property, through a long, tree-lined driveway, thru a custom gate and into a gracious entry court. Walking through a formal entry garden, you arrive at a round entry tower, completing the transition from street to home. Separated into three primary zones, the main bedroom wing is a two-story volume anchoring one side of the center Living / Dining spaces, while the 2-story Library and Kitchen / Family Room anchor the other. All of the primary public spaces in the home are oriented toward the rear garden. The home features 5,500 square feet of living space, a 3-car garage, a separate guest suite and private master sauna pavilion. Solar power, battery back-up, integrated building controls and on-site water storage are a few of the technical systems installed.

This 3,300 square foot, LEED Platinum, Zero Energy Home sits on a hill with a beautiful view of rural Frederick County. The walls are Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC). Deep overhangs and careful siting maximize passive solar heating and natural cooling; all south facing glazing has a very low U value and high solar heat gain coefficient to maximize solar heat in the winter. The East, North and West windows also have a very low U values and low solar heat gain coefficient to reduce cooling load. Systems include 4.3 kW solar, 1.8 kW wind turbine, batteries for backup power, geothermal heating and cooling, Energy recovery ventilation and 3000 gallons of rainwater collection.

Photo credit Michael Partenio This new home takes advantage of a beautiful hilltop site. The outdoor spaces function as an extension of the house and support the family’s casual, sports-oriented lifestyle. The design, for a family of seven, provides spaces for individual privacy and family gatherings. The design challenge was to incorporate a number of sustainable features into the design. The south-facing roof is integrated with a 5-kilowatt photovoltaic system, generating electricity for the home and furnishing emergency backup power. The heating is exclusively radiant with high efficiency boilers partially burning biofuel. Measures taken to produce an efficient building envelope include a drainage plane behind the siding, spray foam insulation, and high performance, insulated window glass.

Nestled along South Boulder Creek with sweeping Flatirons views, Creekside is a custom modern mountain home shaped by one guiding principle: dissolve the boundary between light, landscape, and daily living. From the first conversations, the project began not with a floor plan, but with the land itself—carefully evaluating a rare, delicate site and letting its rhythms, constraints, and beauty set the tone for every decision. Designed for a couple building their forever home in the Boulder foothills, the residence balances crisp modernity with the warmth and honesty of natural materials. Expansive glazing and clean lines are grounded by timber, stone, and tactile finishes—quietly luxurious rather than showy. The clients had spent years “chasing the light” from home to home; here, that pursuit became something more intentional. Instead of chasing the sun, the architecture invites sunlight to travel through the house across the day and seasons. Light is treated as a living element, orchestrated to create moments of surprise and calm. An interior window captures southern exposure at the upper level, guiding it through the loft and filtering it into the northern living room below—an atmospheric shift that changes hour by hour. A glass stair bridge adds levitation and clarity, linking front and back, public and private. Beneath it, a serene Zen garden winds under floating stairs, creating a quiet pause in the home’s circulation. Facing the creek, the home opens into a composition of glass and crisp geometry, framing moving water and long bands of daylight. Peaked roofs, timber beams, and stone cladding nod to regional vernacular, rooting the modern form in its mountain context. Set beside a sensitive riparian corridor, Creekside demanded exceptional care, including meticulous deconstruction of an existing structure with 94% landfill diversion. Performance was treated as a design feature: HERS 4, ENERGY STAR certification, a 15.8 kWh solar array, 30 kW battery backup, 1 ACH air-sealed construction, and air-source heat pumps—proof that stewardship and comfort can coexist beautifully.

Context After retiring from their careers in New Jersey, an active professional couple decided to move to Vermont to be closer to their family. They wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to sensibly plan for the future by building a sunlit home in which they could comfortably age in place with predictable, low energy costs through the harsh Vermont winter. A spacious, open lot near a historic river village provided the perfect backdrop for the couple’s favorite hobbies: gardening, woodworking, and yoga. The couple’s son, owner of Shelterwood Construction, would have the chance to showcase his meticulous craftsmanship in a home lovingly built for his parents. Response The home was built using very local natural materials that blend into the surrounding landscape. Cor-ten steel weathered clapboards transition from the earth to the wood clapboards above and the entire exterior has no finish, allowing the house to change and weather with the seasons. Many of the interior finishes, including the decorative stair wall, were made from locally-milled white pine that was harvested from the site. This certified Passive House is designed to be lived in for a lifetime with wheelchair accessibility, wide doorways, accessible fixtures, and everything the couple needs located on the main level. Framed by large south-facing windows, the light-filled main living area includes a lofted ceiling transected with a glass bridge that connects the guest bedrooms above and looks out onto the garden and fruit trees below. The attached barn, which creates a courtyard for gardens, houses a yoga studio and woodworking shop. With an ample array of solar panels and airtight construction to keep the heat in, the house is predicted to be net zero with no energy bills even in the coldest of Vermont winters. A Tesla Powerwall stores backup electricity for this all-electric home. Photos (c) Irvin Serrano

This 3,300 square foot, LEED Platinum, Zero Energy Home sits on a hill with a beautiful view of rural Frederick County. The walls are Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC). Deep overhangs and careful siting maximize passive solar heating and natural cooling; all south facing glazing has a very low U value and high solar heat gain coefficient to maximize solar heat in the winter. The East, North and West windows also have a very low U values and low solar heat gain coefficient to reduce cooling load. Systems include 4.3 kW solar, 1.8 kW wind turbine, batteries for backup power, geothermal heating and cooling, Energy recovery ventilation and 3000 gallons of rainwater collection.

Nestled along South Boulder Creek with sweeping Flatirons views, Creekside is a custom modern mountain home shaped by one guiding principle: dissolve the boundary between light, landscape, and daily living. From the first conversations, the project began not with a floor plan, but with the land itself—carefully evaluating a rare, delicate site and letting its rhythms, constraints, and beauty set the tone for every decision. Designed for a couple building their forever home in the Boulder foothills, the residence balances crisp modernity with the warmth and honesty of natural materials. Expansive glazing and clean lines are grounded by timber, stone, and tactile finishes—quietly luxurious rather than showy. The clients had spent years “chasing the light” from home to home; here, that pursuit became something more intentional. Instead of chasing the sun, the architecture invites sunlight to travel through the house across the day and seasons. Light is treated as a living element, orchestrated to create moments of surprise and calm. An interior window captures southern exposure at the upper level, guiding it through the loft and filtering it into the northern living room below—an atmospheric shift that changes hour by hour. A glass stair bridge adds levitation and clarity, linking front and back, public and private. Beneath it, a serene Zen garden winds under floating stairs, creating a quiet pause in the home’s circulation. Facing the creek, the home opens into a composition of glass and crisp geometry, framing moving water and long bands of daylight. Peaked roofs, timber beams, and stone cladding nod to regional vernacular, rooting the modern form in its mountain context. Set beside a sensitive riparian corridor, Creekside demanded exceptional care, including meticulous deconstruction of an existing structure with 94% landfill diversion. Performance was treated as a design feature: HERS 4, ENERGY STAR certification, a 15.8 kWh solar array, 30 kW battery backup, 1 ACH air-sealed construction, and air-source heat pumps—proof that stewardship and comfort can coexist beautifully.

The project began with the owner’s vision to create on their Atherton property a new home, reminiscent of the Mediterranean villas and gardens they loved to visit on European holidays. They wanted to create an oasis, a home that would nurture their creativity and foster a feeling of calm. The design creates this sense of transition right as you enter the property, through a long, tree-lined driveway, thru a custom gate and into a gracious entry court. Walking through a formal entry garden, you arrive at a round entry tower, completing the transition from street to home. Separated into three primary zones, the main bedroom wing is a two-story volume anchoring one side of the center Living / Dining spaces, while the 2-story Library and Kitchen / Family Room anchor the other. All of the primary public spaces in the home are oriented toward the rear garden. The home features 5,500 square feet of living space, a 3-car garage, a separate guest suite and private master sauna pavilion. Solar power, battery back-up, integrated building controls and on-site water storage are a few of the technical systems installed.