For a while, Web and Helen Stayman had wanted to build a new house on their wooded hill outside of town, so they had thought about their future home a lot before they approached the architecture firm my wife and I own. They came to our first meeting armed with drawings, Web's quarter-scale model of their ideal design, and a strong desire to have a house that was as energy efficient as possible. When we suggested tactfully that we were more interested in designing houses from scratch, Helen stated, "Of course you are, and that's why we are here." In the end, we designed a completely different house of compound curves that nestles into a curved hillside. Best of all, the house has a highly insulated shell (R-38 walls, R-62 roof, and an ICF foundation) and derives its primary heat from a high-efficiency wood-fired furnace.
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