Our first “Regenerative” home, Farmhouse was on last year’s green home tour. It produces more energy than it consumes which means that the owners get a big check from Xcel every month (and free energy for their EV car). Farmhouse achieved a HERS negative-8 rating, Energy Star v.3.0 and a LEED Platinum Certification. It’s sunny, open, functional floorplan connects on all sides to the permaculture landscape for true indoor/outdoor living, and embodies the owners’ desire to tread lightly on the earth. Detailed wood craftsmanship throughout the home reflects the owner’s love of Mission style furniture. The home was elegantly tailored to the owners’ needs while simultaneously achieving an extraordinary level of sustainability. See it featured in Inhabitat.com
Excavation + Foundation
The main challenge in designing the Cloudman Residence was fully integrating the house into the wooded mountain hillside. As the grade slopes 13’ from one side of the house to the other, the main floor of the house maintains a consistent level in order to be ADA-accessible. A foundation ledge receives the main floor framing, allowing us to maintain ADA thresholds between the interior rooms and exterior patios and porches.
The main level was carefully placed mid-slope in order to balance the cut and fill on site, to maintain the natural slope of the site, and to avoid having to blast through granite. The foundation walls were poured with 20% fly ash and step with grade to minimize the amount of concrete used and to give the impression of the house being an extension of the landscape.