Yesterday, we trekked down to the Museum of Science and Industry to do the press tour of architect Michelle Kaufmann’s MK Solaire, which officially opens today. It was stormy, but we wouldn’t have missed it - we are very familiar with Michelle’s homes from photos, but spending time in one of them was a surprise and a treat. Even on a rainy, grey day, the light and air pouring in through the many strategically placed windows was wonderful.
Name: Matt, Sara, and Bella Janssen
Location: On the road, at time of post: Scottsdale, AZ
Size: Approx. 200 sq. ft. (32 ft x 8 ft)
Years lived in: 8 months
We couldn't have dreamed up a more appropriate house tour to wrap up last month's Small Cool theme. You may remember Sara, Matt and Bella as finalists from the contest last year. We were impressed by their declaration, "Small is BETTER! Even with a 3-year old and surely more on the way, we will never go back. Small is the new big!", but even more impressed with their follow through. Way to put your money where your mouth is....check it out.
Name: Michelle Kaufmann
Location: Novato, Ca
Size: 1560 sq/ft
Years lived in: 4
Average gas/electric bill: $0
We remember where we were when it happened: It was a windy fall day in San Francisco -- we got off BART and took the escalator up to the Civic Center. We walked across the lawn towards City Hall and there was the mkLotus. That was the moment we fell in love with Michelle Kaufmann's green prefab homes.
We'd never been inside of one before; we'd only seen pictures.
Inside, Kaufmann's homes are bright, open, beautiful spaces. (Get yourself to the opening of her new mkSolaire at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, if you don't believe us.) And, her very own Glidehouse in Novato, Ca, where she lives with her husband Kevin and her dogs Otis and Peekay, is no exception.
Kaufmann was kind enough to send us photos of her home as well as answer a number of our prying questions.
No stranger to extravagant taste, The New York Times helps keep it real this week with a story on the low-budget kitchen renovation of Brooklyn Heights resident Katherine Belsey Davis. Spending just over $10,000 on the new kitchen, Davis shares some of her sources for appliances, cabinets, countertops and floor...
Yesterday's Business section of The New York Times looked at Boulder, Colorado resident Eric Doub who is the owner of Ecofutures Building. The company specializes in design-build projects that implement energy-efficient systems into new construction and existing buildings. The story focuses on his personal home that acts as a show home for his company. The home is energy neutral (net-zero energy) — producing more energy than it uses...
Today's New York Times features a thoughtful and beautiful modern redesign of a warehouse. Frances Whitehead and James Elniski, faculty members at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, embraced the idea of green living when they built their home in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago. Though they are the first to admit that there is always room to be greener, they clearly believe that the green movement has merit and are satisfied in their attempt at balancing sustainability with aesthetics...
Last week, we posted the new collection from Canadian housewares giant Umbra. Today, The New York Times takes us on a tour of designer William Harvey's house in Williamsburg. Harvey designed the Shatter collection of tableware for Umbra's U+ collection (below the jump) and turned a mechanics' garage into a studio and home for his family. Using cast-offs, thrift-store finds and his own ingenuity, William Harvey’s handmade house is very personal and very cool...
Lori Dennis (ASID, LEED AP) of Dennis Design Group was hired by a client who wanted to transform his high rise Santa Monica apartment from white to green...a redesigned interior with all green products. Take a look at the before and after professional transformation below for ideas of how to warm up your own interior.
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Peek inside Suzanne and Joe's green San Francisco flat, tour a green den, and check out how an ugly deck becomes a beautiful bench. [links after the jump]
In October, we toured Raedia and Ian's beautiful new and green house in Vermont, Michelle Kaufmann's mkLotus house at West Coast Green, and shared a story about a vegetable-oil powered RV on a different kind of road trip. [links after the jump]
In September, we took a look at cohousing in Portland, a backyard farm in Brooklyn, and Zem Joaquin's green remodel.
[links after the jump]
A surfer goes green; design guru Olle Lundberg (and a really dreamy pool); and cleaning out the cupboards… [links after the jump]
Take a peek inside an 84 square-foot dream home, a green, prefab trailer, and a few Danish "free time houses". [links after the jump.]
In July, we looked at a passive solar cottage in Berkeley, a green remodel in Portland, and green condos in Copenhagen.
[links after the jump]
The first thing we felt when we walked into Suzanne Dehne and Joe Wrigley's flat during the Build It Green San Francisco Green Home Tour was the urge to sit down and stay for the afternoon. Maybe sip a glass of wine or a cup of tea ... We're not sure if it was the radiant heat or the rich color of the wood flooring, but their home exuded warmth (and it definitely wasn't of the energy-wasting variety).
We have a special place in our heart for those brave enough to build their own home. Ian and Raedia responded to our call for Green Homes with a beautiful set of photos and a sadly familiar story. They had trouble convincing the bank to give them a loan for a green home, a well that almost didn't happen, and they ran into one contractor that just wasn't up to snuff. All the work was worth it, though, as the house is truly green... and simply beautiful!
The highlight of West Coast Green, Michelle Kaufmann's mkLotus, arrived on the lawn in front of the Civic Center in San Francisco on a Wednesday -- and by Sunday, it was gone.
It's cohousing, not a commune. Cohousing, an idea imported from Denmark by Katie McCamant, combines "the advantages of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living, including shared common facilities and ongoing connections with neighbors."
We're looking for a few good, green homes. Well, more than a few, actually.
If you would like to share your home on Apartment Therapy: Green Home, please drop us an email with a picture or two. We're especially interested if you are in Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Ore., or the San Francisco Bay Area.
Your house doesn't have to look or be the perfect green house: we're looking for real people making real efforts to live green. We'd love to document a project in process, or share the tale of how you dealt with an obstinate landlord or a miniscule budget: green is, after all, part of real life.
Here are a few green house tours for inspiration:
Name: Chris
Location: Santa Barbara, Ca
Occupation: Surfer, entrepreneur, visionary
Size/Type: 750 sq. ft. cottage
Years lived in: 10
Average Gas/Electric Bill: $25 gas/$25 electric
When Chris' family of four outgrew their 750-square foot home in Montecito, Ca, a beautiful beach community just south of Santa Barbara, rather than sell, he decided to turn the cottage into a "green" vacation rental.
Now, by showing the finished project to disbelievers, Chris has turned more than a handful of people on to the subtle, yet beautiful green elements he incorporated into the home.
Ever wanted a place to escape, but feared it would be too much work? This exhibition of "free time houses" outside of Copenhagen, Denmark shows one potential solution to that problem: pre-fab houses constructed with an innovative and simple timber framing system, not unlike lincoln logs. Inside, we found lots of great ideas on how to make better use of your space -- whether it's in a summer cabin or a small city apartment.
What if apartments came with yards?
At VM Bjerget, a condo building still under construction in Copenhagen, each unit faces the sun. The apartments each wrap a big, usable terrace that is, in turn, edged with roof gardens. Danish outfit PLOT Architects designed the staggered units to cover a a light and airy parking garage, rather than make two separate buildings. While there is lots of parking, the building is less than a 5 minute walk from a new Metro station, so residents won't need to own cars to get to work.
We're thrilled to see more choices in urban living. People who want private outdoor space shouldn't have to drive to the suburbs. Quick-and-dirty Danish translations after the jump...
Name: Chris and Nyla
Location: Berkeley, Ca
Occupation: Scientist and educator, respectively
Size/Type: 510 sq. ft. cottage
Years lived in: 8 (roughly half-time occupancy)
Average Gas/Electric Bill: $6 gas/$6 electric
The line between where the inside of Chris and Nyla Marnay's cottage ends and the outside begins is blurred by large windows, sunlight, a cool breeze, and French doors opened wide. The couple's home was painstakingly designed so that the sun provides most of their light and heat, strategically placed overhangs and windows provide their cooling, and highly-insulating concrete walls keep temperatures stable.
When we looked for a house, I had three simple criteria: it had to be small, close to work, and I would not stand a lawn that needed regular mowing and watering -- truly silly in soggy Portland. It was to be our first house, which meant we weren't afraid of a project. Our eager naivety resulted in what we thought would be a simple 3-month basement renovation turning into a gut renovation that's now pushing three years.
When we found the house, I knew it was the one. It sure was small: the footprint measured only 22 feet by 28 feet. There was a wedge of a front yard, measuring five feet at the narrowest point. It had not been touched since it was built as worker housing in 1937. It was a 20-minute walk through a forest preserve to downtown Portland, ten minutes' drive by car to my work, and on a bus line that went directly to my partner's office. It had a view.
And it was green. It was also cramped and crumbling.
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