Name: Nancy
Location: Winnetka, IL
Size: 4000 sq/ft
Years lived in: Owned 6 Months
Nancy’s got a great eye — when she first saw this mid-century gem she knew it had potential. At the time however, it was seriously in need of an upgrade: the interior reeked of early 90’s décor, the structure was thermally deficient and it wasn’t quite large enough for her family of three boys. A couple of years later the house is a shining example of a sustainably swanky renovation.
Name: Zero Energy Idea House
Homeowners: Donna and Riley Shirey
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Size: 1630 square feet
Date completed: April, 2009
Meaningful design, sustainability, eco-conscious are all terms we’d like to use when describing our homes. But this is a house that can truly boast such expressions. The Zero Energy Idea House, perched over the shores of Lake Sammamish, is a real house built for a real family who have been dedicated to building sustainable homes for over 22 years.
We seem to spend a lot of time bemoaning the state of food in America. There's so much that isn't the way it ought to be that sometimes we forget to celebrate and appreciate places that are producing food in creatively sustainable ways. One of those places is Snowville Creamery in southeast Ohio. We visited Snowville to bring you a peek at a dairy that is doing things right. Take a quick trip with us to this tiny creamery; you'll see a few herds of happy, healthy, sociable cows, and an owner who is practically a force of nature himself.
Name: Joan Yokom and Johann Fitzgerald
Location: The Mission, San Francisco
Size: 660 square feet
Years lived in: 6 years
Joan Yokom and Johann Fitzgerald have garnered a lot of positive attention for their colorful Mission home. A few of their images have been featured on Apartment Therapy here, but we thought it was about time to get the full story. Chock full of inspirational DIYs and artisan made custom furniture, this Mission Maisonette deserved a full house tour.
Names: Katy and Tighe
Location: Vashon, Washington
Size: 850 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year, rented
Back when Katy and Tighe were city dwellers, they lived a semi-country life. They built a greenhouse in a tiny San Francisco backyard, grew their own food, and made plans to raise chickens. Eventually, having moved to Seattle, they decided to try out an actual country life. They found a little cottage on Vashon Island, got an (adorable) dog, and set about making a lovely home among the madronas and pines...
Names: Sara & Pete
Size: 5,000 square feet, including the basement apartment
Years Lived in: 10
Sara and Pete's DC rowhouse is decorated with a mix of antiques and repurposed theater props. The couple has long supported theater companies in DC — including Constellation Theatre and Woolly Mammoth — and have collected and incorporated their favorite stage props into their home.
Name: 3716 Springfield by Studio 804
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Size: 2,600 square feet
Year built: 2009
The latest project of Studio 804 - a design/build program at the University of Kansas' School of Architecture, Design and Planning - is 3716 Springfield. The home's extreme sustainability (even noted as "off the grid") doesn't dominate its aesthetic, but compliments the design's austerity...
Name: Joyce
Location: Stow, Massachusetts
"We live in an eco-home that we designed and built on the foundation of a 1959 ranch. It was designed to embrace the beauty of simple natural materials, open spaces, and carefully thought-out systems for health and comfort. Inspired by Sarah Susanka's The Not So Big House, every aspect of the design aims to maximize space, making use of the entire footprint (and the vertical space) to accommodate the way a family lives. The result is environmentally sustainable, aesthetically delightful, and lovingly suited to the needs of a family..."
Name: Chuck and Jessica
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland
Size: 196 square feet
Years lived in: Completed this year, 2009
Chuck is an architect and furniture designer and Jessica is a painter, so their shed was built out of necessity to provide additional workspace behind their home. Built from the ground up and using many salvaged materials, the shed keeps in line with their philosophy on environmental responsibility. And given Chuck's occupation, it's no surprise their shed won the International Shed of the Year award for 2009.
Name: Helen & Frazer Cunningham
Location: Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK
Type: Beach Shack
Size: Dolls House!
Years lived in: Owned for 4 years
Enter Helen & Frazer's Gallery
Visiting the shack is not just like visiting a different place, its visiting a different time. The shack is an English holiday cottage from yesteryear, with cleverly chosen decor, furniture and appliances that take you back but also seem totally genuine and appropriate. Few homes could evoke such strong emotions and feelings as this one, even in those too young to have witnessed this style. A great example of the power of design...
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 3600 sq/ft
Years lived in: For Sale!
Located in the picturesque and historic Chicago neighborhood, Ravenswood Manor, this home is a future forward ‘American Four-Square’ house, updated to be green with a super insulated envelope, passive and active solar elements, a green roof and lots of reused and reclaimed goodies…
Location: Hudson Valley, New York
Size: 3 bedrooms, 1,400 square feet
Years lived in: We’ve lived in the house full-time for about 8 months, but it’s been in my boyfriend’s (Patrick's) family since his grandfather, Harry Cooke, bought it in 1924. He used the proceeds from selling an invention and turned it into a camp for underprivileged city kids.
Who else lives here? My boyfriend Patrick, his sons Harrison and Logan, and Emily, our summer farm apprentice.
>>Enter Hudson Valley Fiber Farm Gallery
After Hudson Valley Fiber Farmer Susan Gibbs, a former CBS News producer, and Patrick Manning started the first ever Yarn CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) on Martha's Vineyard, they expanded to Patrick's family farm in the Hudson Valley. The couple currently goes back and forth from the Vineyard to the Hudson Valley managing their flock of sheep and goats...
Name: Matthew and Emma McGregor-Mento
Location: New York, NY
Size: 650 sq/ft
Years lived in: 6 months
When Matthew and Emma bought their 6th floor apartment in the East Village, they knew they wanted it to be filled with natural living things and to convey the sense that "nature was taking the apartment back, like a small plant growing from a crack in the sidewalk." Inspired by the Japanese notion of multi-use and transforming spaces, their home is a tribute to environmentally-friendly design in every aspect, from the custom formaldehyde free, FSC-certified wood cabinets to the amazing plant wall...
Our friend's family have a house up in the Berkshires, and we feel lucky to visit them each summer (Here are pics from last summer). The house is one of a small bunch which originally formed a Shaker village...
This isn't a typical tree house - rather than tear down trees on the existing site, designer Jeremey Levin chose to include three trees as central parts of this outstanding renovation and addition. The lines between interior and exterior are blurred by using the tree canopies as a ‘roof’ and providing direct access to the exterior from every room in the house…
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