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

The floors are white marble and the marble is brought up to wainscot height in the water closet with a heavy chair rail in a matching white marble. Above the chair rail is a gorgeous tone on tone damask wallpaper. The freestanding tub sits in front of a custom designed floor length mirror. White marble chair rail pieces were used to craft the outer portion of the frame and mother of pearl mosaics were used for the inner frame and then completed with a small piece of chair ail. The mosaic tile is repeated behind the vanities in lieu of the standard 4” marble backsplash and topped with a pencil rail out of marble. The double cabinets on each end of the vanities allow for plentiful storage and offer the opportunity to create a valance connecting the two. The depth allows for recessed lighting to be tucked out of site and just a sliver of trim finishes off the edges of the mirror. The barrel tray is magically transformed into a soft pearlized finish with just a hint of color swirled magically, reflecting beautifully with the enhancement of rope lighting hidden by the cove molding. Architectural designer, Nicole Delaney worked her magic again as always. Schonbek crystal chandeliers and sconces adorn the bath and quality of the crystal is noted by the colors created by the prisms dancing so gloriously around the room. Behind the mirror are double entrances into a steam shower. Laser-cut listello and custom designed wall panel from Renaissance Tile adorn the walls and niches of which there are several at various heights. The silk rug is from Stark and the ottoman was brought from their previous home and is from the Baker furniture line. A beautiful inlay tray from BoJay designs holds multiple bath products. Rohl towel hooks, tissue holders and robe hooks are tipped with Swarovski crystal ends. Designed by Melodie Durham of Durham Designs & Consulting, LLC. Photo by Livengood Photographs [www.livengoodphotographs.com/design].

I built this on my property for my aging father who has some health issues. Handicap accessibility was a factor in design. His dream has always been to try retire to a cabin in the woods. This is what he got. It is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a great room. It is 600 sqft of AC space. The footprint is 40' x 26' overall. The site was the former home of our pig pen. I only had to take 1 tree to make this work and I planted 3 in its place. The axis is set from root ball to root ball. The rear center is aligned with mean sunset and is visible across a wetland. The goal was to make the home feel like it was floating in the palms. The geometry had to simple and I didn't want it feeling heavy on the land so I cantilevered the structure beyond exposed foundation walls. My barn is nearby and it features old 1950's "S" corrugated metal panel walls. I used the same panel profile for my siding. I ran it vertical to match the barn, but also to balance the length of the structure and stretch the high point into the canopy, visually. The wood is all Southern Yellow Pine. This material came from clearing at the Babcock Ranch Development site. I ran it through the structure, end to end and horizontally, to create a seamless feel and to stretch the space. It worked. It feels MUCH bigger than it is. I milled the material to specific sizes in specific areas to create precise alignments. Floor starters align with base. Wall tops adjoin ceiling starters to create the illusion of a seamless board. All light fixtures, HVAC supports, cabinets, switches, outlets, are set specifically to wood joints. The front and rear porch wood has three different milling profiles so the hypotenuse on the ceilings, align with the walls, and yield an aligned deck board below. Yes, I over did it. It is spectacular in its detailing. That's the benefit of small spaces. Concrete counters and IKEA cabinets round out the conversation. For those who cannot live tiny, I offer the Tiny-ish House. Photos by Ryan Gamma Staging by iStage Homes Design Assistance Jimmy Thornton

Eye-Land: Named for the expansive white oak savanna views, this beautiful 5,200-square foot family home offers seamless indoor/outdoor living with five bedrooms and three baths, and space for two more bedrooms and a bathroom. The site posed unique design challenges. The home was ultimately nestled into the hillside, instead of placed on top of the hill, so that it didn’t dominate the dramatic landscape. The openness of the savanna exposes all sides of the house to the public, which required creative use of form and materials. The home’s one-and-a-half story form pays tribute to the site’s farming history. The simplicity of the gable roof puts a modern edge on a traditional form, and the exterior color palette is limited to black tones to strike a stunning contrast to the golden savanna. The main public spaces have oversized south-facing windows and easy access to an outdoor terrace with views overlooking a protected wetland. The connection to the land is further strengthened by strategically placed windows that allow for views from the kitchen to the driveway and auto court to see visitors approach and children play. There is a formal living room adjacent to the front entry for entertaining and a separate family room that opens to the kitchen for immediate family to gather before and after mealtime.

Offering a beautiful view through a large window into the backyard, we knew we would highlight the window and design a new kitchen layout, around that window. The former kitchen felt closed in with super dark cabinets. Along with the homeowner, our team designed a light and airy kitchen, including a new pass through to the dining room. Closed off from the kitchen before, the pass through not only allows light to flow in from the beautiful bay window in the dining room, but if offers a functional countertop used for entertaining and serving guests. Not pictured is a drop zone, located immediately when you enter from the mudroom. Drop zones are fantastic for everyday items like keys, wallets, dog gear and more. We added an additional opening to the living room, right off the kitchen as well as a wet bar strategically placed outside the ever day kitchen work zone. Wet bars are fantastic for holding entertainment dishware, barware and appetizers! We finished the space with beautiful new hardwood floors throughout the entire first floor, except the tile in the mudroom.

With adjacent neighbors within a fairly dense section of Paradise Valley, Arizona, C.P. Drewett sought to provide a tranquil retreat for a new-to-the-Valley surgeon and his family who were seeking the modernism they loved though had never lived in. With a goal of consuming all possible site lines and views while maintaining autonomy, a portion of the house — including the entry, office, and master bedroom wing — is subterranean. This subterranean nature of the home provides interior grandeur for guests but offers a welcoming and humble approach, fully satisfying the clients requests. While the lot has an east-west orientation, the home was designed to capture mainly north and south light which is more desirable and soothing. The architecture’s interior loftiness is created with overlapping, undulating planes of plaster, glass, and steel. The woven nature of horizontal planes throughout the living spaces provides an uplifting sense, inviting a symphony of light to enter the space. The more voluminous public spaces are comprised of stone-clad massing elements which convert into a desert pavilion embracing the outdoor spaces. Every room opens to exterior spaces providing a dramatic embrace of home to natural environment. Grand Award winner for Best Interior Design of a Custom Home The material palette began with a rich, tonal, large-format Quartzite stone cladding. The stone’s tones gaveforth the rest of the material palette including a champagne-colored metal fascia, a tonal stucco system, and ceilings clad with hemlock, a tight-grained but softer wood that was tonally perfect with the rest of the materials. The interior case goods and wood-wrapped openings further contribute to the tonal harmony of architecture and materials. Grand Award Winner for Best Indoor Outdoor Lifestyle for a Home This award-winning project was recognized at the 2020 Gold Nugget Awards with two Grand Awards, one for Best Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle for a Home, and another for Best Interior Design of a One of a Kind or Custom Home. At the 2020 Design Excellence Awards and Gala presented by ASID AZ North, Ownby Design received five awards for Tonal Harmony. The project was recognized for 1st place – Bathroom; 3rd place – Furniture; 1st place – Kitchen; 1st place – Outdoor Living; and 2nd place – Residence over 6,000 square ft. Congratulations to Claire Ownby, Kalysha Manzo, and the entire Ownby Design team. Tonal Harmony was also featured on the cover of the July/August 2020 issue of Luxe Interiors + Design and received a 14-page editorial feature entitled “A Place in the Sun” within the magazine.

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

Sonoma weeHouse exterior. Copyright/Photo by Geoffrey Warner, Alchemy, LLC 2016.
Trendy home design photo in Minneapolis

This “Arizona Inspired” home draws on some of the couples’ favorite desert inspirations. The architecture honors the Wrightian design of The Arizona Biltmore, the courtyard raised planter beds feature labeled specimen cactus in the style of the Desert Botanical Gardens, and the expansive backyard offers a resort-style pool and cabana with plenty of entertainment space. Additional focal areas of landscape design include an outdoor living room in the front courtyard with custom steel fire trough, a shallow negative-edge fountain, and a rare “nurse tree” that was salvaged from a nearby site, sits in the corner of the courtyard – a unique conversation starter. The wash that runs on either side of the museum-glass hallway is filled with aloes, agaves and cactus. On the far end of the lot, a fire pit surrounded by desert planting offers stunning views both day and night of the Praying Monk rock formation on Camelback Mountain. Project Details: Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Higgins Architects Builder: GM Hunt Builders Landscape Contractor: Benhart Landscaping Interior Designer: Kitchell Brusnighan Interior Design Photography: Ian Denker

Photo: Ten Ten Creative
Wet bar - transitional single-wall dark wood floor and brown floor wet bar idea in Dallas with shaker cabinets, black cabinets, black backsplash, subway tile backsplash and gray countertops

Centered on an arched pergola, the gas grill is convenient to bar seating, the refrigerator and the trash receptacle. The pergola ties into other wood structures on site and the circular bar reflects a large circular bluestone insert on the patio.

I built this on my property for my aging father who has some health issues. Handicap accessibility was a factor in design. His dream has always been to try retire to a cabin in the woods. This is what he got. It is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a great room. It is 600 sqft of AC space. The footprint is 40' x 26' overall. The site was the former home of our pig pen. I only had to take 1 tree to make this work and I planted 3 in its place. The axis is set from root ball to root ball. The rear center is aligned with mean sunset and is visible across a wetland. The goal was to make the home feel like it was floating in the palms. The geometry had to simple and I didn't want it feeling heavy on the land so I cantilevered the structure beyond exposed foundation walls. My barn is nearby and it features old 1950's "S" corrugated metal panel walls. I used the same panel profile for my siding. I ran it vertical to math the barn, but also to balance the length of the structure and stretch the high point into the canopy, visually. The wood is all Southern Yellow Pine. This material came from clearing at the Babcock Ranch Development site. I ran it through the structure, end to end and horizontally, to create a seamless feel and to stretch the space. It worked. It feels MUCH bigger than it is. I milled the material to specific sizes in specific areas to create precise alignments. Floor starters align with base. Wall tops adjoin ceiling starters to create the illusion of a seamless board. All light fixtures, HVAC supports, cabinets, switches, outlets, are set specifically to wood joints. The front and rear porch wood has three different milling profiles so the hypotenuse on the ceilings, align with the walls, and yield an aligned deck board below. Yes, I over did it. It is spectacular in its detailing. That's the benefit of small spaces. Concrete counters and IKEA cabinets round out the conversation. For those who could not live in a tiny house, I offer the Tiny-ish House. Photos by Ryan Gamma Staging by iStage Homes Design assistance by Jimmy Thornton

Photo: Heather Banks © 2015 Houzz
This is an example of a farmhouse landscaping in Austin.

JPM Construction offers complete support for designing, building, and renovating homes in Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, and surrounding mid-peninsula areas. With a focus on high-quality craftsmanship and professionalism, our clients can expect premium end-to-end service. The promise of JPM is unparalleled quality both on-site and off, where we value communication and attention to detail at every step. Onsite, we work closely with our own tradesmen, subcontractors, and other vendors to bring the highest standards to construction quality and job site safety. Off site, our management team is always ready to communicate with you about your project. The result is a beautiful, lasting home and seamless experience for you.

This light and airy kitchen is the definition of elegance. It has white shaker cabinets with satin gold pulls topped with white quartz counters. The matching white quartz backsplash provides a clean look. The center piece of the room is the large island! With seating for four, the deep blue island is loaded with storage and has a drawer microwave. For a special touch on the white quartz counter, we used an extra thick quartz slab. The striking gold pendants are from Ferguson Lighting. Sleek and contemporary, this beautiful home is located in Villanova, PA. Blue, white and gold are the palette of this transitional design. With custom touches and an emphasis on flow and an open floor plan, the renovation included the kitchen, family room, butler’s pantry, mudroom, two powder rooms and floors. Rudloff Custom Builders has won Best of Houzz for Customer Service in 2014, 2015 2016, 2017 and 2019. We also were voted Best of Design in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 which only 2% of professionals receive. Rudloff Custom Builders has been featured on Houzz in their Kitchen of the Week, What to Know About Using Reclaimed Wood in the Kitchen as well as included in their Bathroom WorkBook article. We are a full service, certified remodeling company that covers all of the Philadelphia suburban area. This business, like most others, developed from a friendship of young entrepreneurs who wanted to make a difference in their clients’ lives, one household at a time. This relationship between partners is much more than a friendship. Edward and Stephen Rudloff are brothers who have renovated and built custom homes together paying close attention to detail. They are carpenters by trade and understand concept and execution. Rudloff Custom Builders will provide services for you with the highest level of professionalism, quality, detail, punctuality and craftsmanship, every step of the way along our journey together. Specializing in residential construction allows us to connect with our clients early in the design phase to ensure that every detail is captured as you imagined. One stop shopping is essentially what you will receive with Rudloff Custom Builders from design of your project to the construction of your dreams, executed by on-site project managers and skilled craftsmen. Our concept: envision our client’s ideas and make them a reality. Our mission: CREATING LIFETIME RELATIONSHIPS BUILT ON TRUST AND INTEGRITY. Photo Credit: Linda McManus Images

JPM Construction offers complete support for designing, building, and renovating homes in Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, and surrounding mid-peninsula areas. With a focus on high-quality craftsmanship and professionalism, our clients can expect premium end-to-end service. The promise of JPM is unparalleled quality both on-site and off, where we value communication and attention to detail at every step. Onsite, we work closely with our own tradesmen, subcontractors, and other vendors to bring the highest standards to construction quality and job site safety. Off site, our management team is always ready to communicate with you about your project. The result is a beautiful, lasting home and seamless experience for you.

Embracing the organic, wild aesthetic of the Arizona desert, this home offers thoughtful landscape architecture that enhances the native palette without a single irrigation drip line. Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Clint Miller Architect Landscape Contractor: Premier Environments Photography: Steve Thompson

JPM Construction offers complete support for designing, building, and renovating homes in Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, and surrounding mid-peninsula areas. With a focus on high-quality craftsmanship and professionalism, our clients can expect premium end-to-end service. The promise of JPM is unparalleled quality both on-site and off, where we value communication and attention to detail at every step. Onsite, we work closely with our own tradesmen, subcontractors, and other vendors to bring the highest standards to construction quality and job site safety. Off site, our management team is always ready to communicate with you about your project. The result is a beautiful, lasting home and seamless experience for you.