Perusing through a recent issue of Metropolitan Home (May 2009) I came across an Eco Friendly house in Colorado with a few design elements worth sharing. A style that I am not normally attracted to, but there is something about the simplicity of this house has me drawn to it.
The eco friendly house designed by architect Jim Logan from Boulder, is set on a pristine acre just beyond Boulder’s city limits was designed for a pair uprooted New Yorkers.
The view from the back:
A quartet of identical archetypal attached dwellings are aimed toward the creek with light coming in through the roof. The repeating rooftops also conceal solar thermal panels. Each of the four pods are all the same size and each house a separate function.
Then…..here is one of my favorite elements: 
This is one of those things that I fell in love with (I know it’s an odd thing to get excited about :) ). A very functional and attractive custom made steel drain spout (placed in between the adjoining structures).
On the exterior, the structural wing walls are clad in brick, the faces are covered with beautiful, lovely ipê, a Brazilian hardwood. The trellises, are recycled composite deck material made from sawdust and plastic garbage bags, they will one day be covered with trumpet vine, clematis and honeysuckle. How sweet, literally that will be to enjoy.
The living room hearth is made of local sandstone. “Using a local resource that is normally thrown away is about as sustainable as you can get,” Logan says.
And, last by not least, here is a dream come true for all of you avid readers, book loving people. I know I can’t be alone in this feeling. I giggle when I think back to when my sisters were gracious enough to help me pack, and telling me to “NEVER buy another book, I had enough!” Seriously, can you really have too many books?
At the homeowners’ request, the central hallway that links the living spaces is defined by wall-to-wall bookcases. “Despite our lawyer/Wall Street lifestyle, we were both English majors in college and we wanted something to commemorate that,” says Gallop. The sanded and black-stained shelves are concrete forms the architect salvaged from a downtown excavation project.
May the owners have many years of enjoyment in their beautiful, eco friendly, wonderful home.
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Although the exterior facade of the home is not something that would usually attract me, upon closer inspection from your posted photos, I really like the home too! That rain-drain is awesome! I'm working on a commercial project right now where we are using the chain rainfall drains. Great post!
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