The New In My House

The New In My House…

Phi­los­o­phy of Archi­tec­ture (from Let My Peo­ple Go Surf­ing, Y Chouinard
1. Don’t build a new build­ing unless it’s absolute­ly nec­es­sary.  The most respon­si­ble thing to do is to buy used build­ings, con­struc­tion mate­ri­als, and furniture.
2. Try to save old or his­toric build­ings from being torn down.  Any struc­tur­al changes should hon­or the his­tor­i­cal integri­ty of the build­ing.  We rec­ti­fy mis­guid­ed “improve­ments” made by pre­vi­ous ten­ants and strip way fake mod­ern facades, end­ing up we hope with a build­ing that is a “gift to the neighborhood.”
3. If you can’t be retro, build qual­i­ty.  The aes­thet­ic life expectan­cy of the build­ing should be as long as the phys­i­cal mate­ri­al’s life span.
4. Use recy­cled, and recy­clable, mate­ri­als like steel gird­ers, studs, re-milled wood, and straw bales.  Install fix­tures from waste mate­ri­als like pressed sun­flower hulls and agri­cul­tur­al waste.
5. Any­thing that is built should be repairable and eas­i­ly maintained.
6. Build­ings should be con­struct­ed to last as long as pos­si­ble, even if this ini­tial­ly involves a high­er price.
7. Each [house] must be unique.  The heroes, sports, his­to­ry, and nat­ur­al fea­tures of each area should be reflect­ed and honored.

My Phi­los­o­phy:
Uncon­di­tion­al love for indi­vid­ual humans I meet, a deep and lov­ing con­nec­tion for the nat­ur­al world; a curios­i­ty about how things work, a deep root­ed intent to help oth­ers reach their poten­tial; a healthy skep­ti­cism toward author­i­ty; a love of nature and phys­i­cal work, a love for dif­fi­cult, human-pow­ered sports that require prac­tice and mas­tery; a dis­dain for motor­ized sports like snow­mo­bil­ing or jet ski­ing; a respect for real adven­ture (defined best as a jour­ney from which you may not come back alive–and cer­tain­ly not as the same per­son); a taste for real adven­ture; and a belief that less is more (in design and in consumption)

Build­ing envelope
‑rammed earth
‑high effi­cien­cy windows
‑porch for seat­ing and eat­ing on in sum­mer, dry­ing clothes and indoor/outdoor space

Roof
‑green roof
‑solar panels
‑rain­wa­ter catchment
‑over­hang­ing for out­door dry spaces

Elec­tri­cal
‑wired for max effi­cien­cy, short runs, large gauge
‑solar power
‑wind power
‑nat­ur­al light­ing as much as possible
‑enough pow­er to weld
‑hydro­gen fuel cell com­bined with solar/wind
‑cogen (CHP)

Heat­ing & Cooling
‑geot­her­mal heat pump
‑pas­sive as much as possible
‑decid­u­ous trees to the south, ever­greens to the north
‑hydron­ic floor heating
‑prop­er house align­ment to catch sun and wind
‑use of ther­mal mass and insu­la­tion is very impor­tant and wanted

Entry­way
‑plen­ty of places for shoes
‑solar pow­ered shoe heater
‑plen­ty of places to hang wet/outdoor clothes
‑mit­tens
‑hats
‑coats
‑socks
‑etc.
‑air­locked from house
‑bench­es to sit and change on
‑place for dog stuff (leash­es, balls, toys, tugs, etc)
‑place for snow­shoes and xc skis
‑places for gear
‑nice and sun­ny for dry­ing gear
‑ven­ti­la­tion in summer

The kitchen
‑good view
‑solar cook­ing oven in south wall
‑east­ern views
‑4 burn­er com­mer­cial style stove with griddle
‑1 big sink (not side-by-side), plumbed for planter
‑ter­ra tile floor, heated
‑sun­pipe
‑sun­frost fridge/freezer, SMALL
‑pas­sive fridge/cold box/pantry in north wall
‑hydron­ic heat­ed floors
‑easy to clean drain that is vir­tu­al­ly unclog­gable, and leads to a small indoor herb/plant garden
‑indoor/outdoor kitchen

Bath­room
‑plumbed for grey­wa­ter, short runs to plants/trees
‑hydron­ic heat­ed floors
‑heat­ed tow­el rack
‑nat­ur­al ventilation
‑sun­pipe
‑cus­tom con­crete counter top
‑tow­el stor­age in bathroom
‑sun­pipe
‑sep­a­rat­ed toi­let and bath
‑out­door com­post­ing throne with amaz­ing view

Liv­ing room/great room/connected to kitchen
‑framed views (not just one big sheet of glass)
‑cork floors
‑soap­stone fire­place in cen­ter of house w/heated benches

Bed­rooms (for sleep­ing, dress­ing, and fuck­ing, not for show­ing off)
‑plen­ty of stor­age for clothes, shoes, belts, hats, etc.
‑large dress­ing clos­ets, small rooms

Nook
‑a place for read­ing and being by myself, qui­et, removed from hus­tle and bustle
‑aerie
‑small, wood­en floor
‑sleep­ing area for Birdie
‑sun­lit, not mega sunny
‑book­shelves
‑pri­va­cy with a view and ventilation
‑com­fort­able couch, smooth and clean lines, leather
‑out­door space/access, for meditation

Work­ing
‑Nik and Lee each have their own space
‑nat­ur­al and arti­fi­cial lighting
‑book shelf near
‑good stor­age & organization
‑pri­vate with a view

Water/Plumbing
‑plumbed for max effi­cien­cy: short runs, tan­k­less water heaters, recirc sys­tem if optimal
‑hooked in to heat­ing (in-floor heating)
‑rain­wa­ter catchment
‑grey­wa­ter
‑com­post­ing toilets
‑large cisterns

Yard/Garden
‑xeriscap­ing with grey­wa­ter fruit trees and garden
‑peace­ful and private
‑grill
‑fire­place
‑hot tub?
‑sun­ny and shady
‑lots of greenery
‑dog friendly
‑clean and easy to clean

Garage
‑pas­sive solar
‑plen­ty of outlets
‑car­port & workshop
‑black­smith
‑wood­shop
‑gear spaces
‑large effi­cient north wall freez­er for meat

Dogs:
‑water bowl in grav­el path lead­ing to tree
‑water bowl direct­ly under faucet, out of the sun
‑some kind of pad/transition area between out­side and in where they knock dirt/mud off their paws
‑spaces for them to be washed out­side, with atten­dant brushes/shampoo etc
‑leash/collar hooks for hang­ing and easy access

Over­all:
SMALL, nat­ur­al, flow­ing, heal­ing, reju­ve­nat­ing, space, pro­tec­tion, warm, sun­ny, clean, open, healthy, welcome

Books:
‑The Engi­neered House