COURTYARD HOUSE

This energy efficient house, a design-build project with Abrahamse & Company Builders, looks both outward and inward. The vaulted dining room is a knuckle between the two story living area and the master bedroom wing and overlooks paddocks, a barn, and the rolling hills beyond. Three separate buildings – main house, garage, and studio – ring an entrance courtyard. Passive solar gain supplements a radiant heating system in the exposed concrete floor, and solar roof panels heat the potable hot water. Simple materials and detailing kept construction costs down, allowing the owner to splurge on a suspended, rotating fireplace with enough left over for her herd of sixteen horses.  

Contractor: Abrahamse & Company Builders