Not too big, yet with enough space for entertaining guests and a working studio, for me this house is just right. I love this house! Not only its location, but the design, the implementation and especially, the vision:
“do two people really need 5 bathrooms? By building only what we need, less material is used, less space needs to be heated, and more of the landscape is preserved for trees, plants, birds, insects, light and air.”
Situated on a beautiful sloped site in Okanagan Valley BC, Canada, the Maurer House implements the simplest and most effective green strategy, where no tree was cut and no rock was blasted, keeping footprint to a minimum and allowing the structure to fit the contours of the bedrock landscape.
This house belongs to a childless couple, who work from home and are passionate about the outdoors, nature and gardening. The project consists of 4 separate structures: a small garage, studio, main house with guest room, and a ‘sleeping cabin’ with master bedroom.
Placement of buildings, roof overhangs, existing mature trees, high performance glazing, thermal capacity of concrete slab and tile flooring – all reduce heat gain in summer and make air conditioning unnecessary, while two large lift-and-slide glass doors let the afternoon lake breeze flow throughout the space.
With a total space of 1,850 sq. ft. you might think that the total cost would be quite high, however minimal site development, simplicity of form and straightforward technology, all contributed to a budget of $225,000. Not too bad at all…
how can you made this in miniature????
Some of the best residential solutions I’ve seen come in at a low cost. well done – we need more of this.
My thoughts exactly!