Ornate rooftop rooftop deck photo in San Francisco with a pergola

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

Marisa Vitale Photography
Example of a mid-century modern master white tile and ceramic tile porcelain tile and gray floor corner shower design in Los Angeles with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, an undermount tub, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, white countertops and a hinged shower door

Lori Hamilton Photography
Example of a large classic hallway design in Miami with white walls

The wide arms of this sofa and the inviting bolsters suggest a cozy place to drink a cup of coffee and read the paper. Photography by Rachel Neville.

We try to encourage patrons to add a little height to their fountain features in order to truly make a statement in their space. This 40-inch pot shows why we suggest that!

Enjoy easy living with Keeler Tavern Walnut laminate from Dream Home that offers beautiful style with minimal upkeep. Boasting rich, chocolate and tan hues with the vibrant pattern indicative of natural walnut, it's an affordable way to get a look that is both dramatic and exotic.

Hall Bath
Small transitional white tile and ceramic tile bathroom photo in Phoenix with flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and quartz countertops

The building is comprised of three volumes, supported by a heavy timber frame, and set upon a terraced ground plane that closely follows the existing topography. Linking the volumes, the circulation path is highlighted by large cuts in the skin of the building. These cuts are infilled with a wood framed curtainwall of glass offset from the syncopated structural grid. Eric Reinholdt - Project Architect/Lead Designer with Elliott, Elliott, Norelius Architecture Photo: Brian Vanden Brink

Trendy kitchen photo in Austin with a double-bowl sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, gray backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Suggested the homeowners remove everything except the baby grand piano to allow us to home stage.

Mid-sized country medium tone wood floor and brown floor dining room photo in Orange County with brown walls and no fireplace

Bathroom - rustic medium tone wood floor bathroom idea in Burlington with a vessel sink, recessed-panel cabinets and medium tone wood cabinets

Wall paint: Decorator's white, Benjamin Moore; table, hardware and LED light: Ikea; tile: Home Depot; artwork: Norma Dvorsky Photo: Le Michelle Nguyen © 2014 Houzz Photo by: Le Michelle Nguyen

Inspiration for a transitional medium tone wood floor and brown floor reach-in closet remodel in Toronto with recessed-panel cabinets and medium tone wood cabinets

In this bathroom, the client wanted the contrast of the white subway tile and the black hexagon tile. We tiled up the walls and ceiling to create a wet room feeling.

The transformation of this kitchen began with suggesting to the client that we remove two small walls that closed in the space and the soffits that were above the cabinets. This alteration allowed us to add a larger island and a bar area to the space. Dove White cabinets frame the perimeter, while we suggested a darker island to accent the existing hardwood floor stain throughout the house.

Overlooking of the surrounding meadows of the historic C Lazy U Ranch, this single family residence was carefully sited on a sloping site to maximize spectacular views of Willow Creek Resevoir and the Indian Peaks mountain range. The project was designed to fulfill budgetary and time frame constraints while addressing the client’s goal of creating a home that would become the backdrop for a very active and growing family for generations to come. In terms of style, the owners were drawn to more traditional materials and intimate spaces of associated with a cabin scale structure.

Example of a huge trendy open concept dark wood floor family room design in Los Angeles with gray walls, a standard fireplace, a metal fireplace and a wall-mounted tv