A Ecofriendly Family Home Gets in Line

“You won’t find a single arc or curve inside this home or landscape,” says residential designer Leigha Heydt. Heydt teamed up to build this home that was sustainable-minded . Quite quickly, the straight-lined home belonged to some young family of New York City transplants. In addition to some layout that is design, Heydt cautioned resource-saving attributes — such as bamboo floors, energy-efficient windows and skylights, water-saving plumbing fixtures and landscaping — and blurred the lines between indoors and out. The home is GreenPoint rated and in walking distance of a grocery store and other businesses. The few and the house can age together, also, thanks to an available downstairs bedroom and full bathroom.

at a Glance
Who lives here: A household with two boys
Location: Mill Valley, California
Size: 2,300 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
That’s interesting: This home is called Green Lines, because of the strict use of lines inside and outside, as well as renewable and resource-saving capabilities.
Builder: Jake Glavis, Pacific Ridge Construction

Heydt Designs

Strong horizontal lines from the railings, overhangs and wooden siding help unite the outside assemblage of materials.

The developer initially wanted a timber facade, but Heydt incorporated as much stucco as she could (on the first floor and on the faces of the home), because this stucco is more durable and fireproof than wood siding. She set the timber, a western red cedar, in which it’d make the visual impact. She used the exact same red cedar to the garage door but stained it darkish gray.

Before Photo

BEFORE: This is the first home, which has been torn down to the studs so that the floor plan may be opened up and healthier, contemporary insulation, paint and other materials could be utilized. Heydt preserved the exterior footprint of their present house and added another floor.

Heydt Designs

She borrowed a idea from the home. Recessing the front door produced a protective front porch plus a grander sense of entrance. It covered by an upper balcony, and is tucked between living area bays and the garage. The guardrail frames will be the exact same western red cedar utilized on the siding, and the metal railings are powder-coated tube steel, just inset to the posts by a CNC saw.

Care to detail generated continuity and a careful balance of materials. By way of example, Heydt had the planters and soffit screen fabricated in matching powder-coated steel. And she’d the concrete stained to match the color of the metal railings.

Heydt Designs

“Permeable landscape materials are an essential aspect of green building,” states Heydt. The driveway layout allows rainwater to sink in the soil, where it can be employed from the landscape plantings.

The gray pads are colored and stained concrete, the golden pebbles are Mexican pebbles (also referred to as buff), and the grasses are a native species, Juncus inflexus ‘Blue Mohawk’.

Heydt Designs

Geometry is at drama in the foundation to the roof. “The relationship between the materials and the geometric types creates its own balance,” Heydt states. “The horizontal lines of the timber siding play from the vertical lines from the downspout and railing, while the grid of the soffit display ties it all together.”

Heydt Designs

“Because the home is a compact dimensions and the layout is quite contemporary, we wanted an open great-room layout for the reduced floor,” Heydt states. “The front of the home has very few windows, because the developer wanted the house to feel quite private from the street. But once inside, there’s a completely different feeling — it is extremely open and bright, because the back of the home is almost entirely glass.”

Extensive back windows and the open plan make the most of the house’s southern exposure. “Maximizing the natural light isn’t just a green building measure, but also just makes a great deal of practical sense,” Heydt states. “The owners tell me that they almost never have to turn on any lights throughout the day, and the house uses very little energy for heating or cooling.”

Heydt Designs

Here’s one of those homeowners, Cindy, coming to the family room from the deck, which crosses the back of the home. “The deck makes the home feel a lot bigger,” states Heydt. “Because the weather is quite good year-round out here, the deck is used much as an extension of the home.”

Modern furnishings continue the straight lines, with only a few curves thrown in from a traditional Eames Lounge Chair.

Bench (underneath the TV): George Nelson for Herman Miller; couch: Klein, Room & Board

Heydt Designs

The lower windows were acid etched and screened with a wall of bamboo out to allow it natural light while maintaining privacy. “The traces of the bamboo leaves can be seen swaying in the front of the windows,” Heydt states.

Taking the limestone fireplace surround from ground to ceiling produced a bold modern spin on a chimney.

Fireplace surround: Fossil Green limestone; woven leather chair: DPortable La Espada; Baths: aluminum-clad Marvin timber; java tables: Bee Market

Heydt Designs

“While the parents prepare meals, the children do their homework or watch TV from the adjacent family room space. The layout allows for the family to remain engaged with one another while utilizing those common spaces,” Heydt states. “When the family entertains, guests leak in and outside of their house through the patio doors as though there were no separation between the interior and outside.”

Bar stools: Radius, Room & Board; cupboards: Nexus Black, Ikea; counters: Calacatta Oro marble

“I made the landscape to become integrated with the home,” states Heydt. “From the interior of the home, you find the color green through every window.”

A row of mature camellias inspired the placement of the window at the kitchen. “When they’re in blossom, the backsplash view is spectacular, and if they are not, it is a serene introduction of greenery to the kitchen,” Heydt states. She sized the backsplash to fit the space just between the cabinets and the counter tops. The reflection off the translucent glass upper cabinets gives the illusion of a continued outdoor view.

Heydt Designs

Homeowner Peter in front of the brand new dining area. “Considering that the floor plan was so open, I wanted to create a little intimacy for the dining area and define its space as separate from the foyer and living area, which are very close,” Heydt states. “One of the columns contains a structural pole to get the floor framing above. The portico effect of the design incorporates the pillar and achieves the design goal at the exact same moment.”

Living chairs: Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller

Heydt Designs

“Because the front of the home has very few windows for privacy reasons, we brought natural lighting into the house through the use of many skylights on the upper floor,” Heydt states. “Skylights line the stairwell and hallway ceilings as well as the two bathrooms. The skylights are extremely energy efficient because of the type of glass that they contain. They allow in light but keep cold and heat out.”

The inside staircase railing is the exact same powder-coated steel at the exact same color as the outside railing.

Heydt Designs

This cupboard and shelf wall at the master bedroom homes a TV, fireplace and computer area. The doorways to the right lead to a balcony overlooking the backyard.

Heydt Designs

This back balcony spans the period of the home and is accessed from the master bedroom and another bedroom. “The balconies also serve a safety point; the glass doors serve as egress accesses, which are somewhat more appealing compared to egress windows and let in more light,” Heydt states.

She chose this Pebble Tec flooring, an epoxy-set aggregate with small gray Mexican pebbles, because it looks like a loose-gravel garden route.

Heydt Designs

Heydt (shown here) surrounded the master bath tub in the exact same porcelain tile she utilized on the ground: Grey Ground, by GranitiFiandre. It is made from recycled materials.

Heydt Designs

A floating vanity at the children’s bathroom permits the floor to stretch from wall to wall, which makes the space feel bigger.

Flooring: Grey Ground porcelain tile, GranitiFiandre; cupboard: Rifra, Fonte Collection

Plan Surveys reveal the house’s layout. This is the first floor, including the deck.

Here’s the floor.

Heydt loves seeing the household enjoy her design. “I am thrilled they have the home, because they really understand and appreciate the aesthetic,” she states. “It was so much fun for me to see them move in and begin using the home in ways I had previously only imagined.”

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