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(Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )
This house and its garden explore the application of sustainable techniques. The house is one room deep to maximize daylight illumination. Air spaces within the insulated walls draw air from ground level up to the top of the house, where air is discharged through roof vents to cool the light-reflecting steel walls. Sun-shading canopies on the long east wall protect interiors from low-raking winter sun, but can be removed in summer. The beam ends that support the canopies also channel rain runoff from the self-supporting steel Quonset roof vault into circular steel tanks. These tanks distribute the water to irrigate the garden. Landscape gardener Camille Waters, working with the owner and architect, installed raised beds to cultivate edible plants. Aromatic plants are grown at the southeast corner of the garden, so that the prevailing breeze will permeate the garden with their aroma. Attached to the house is a “tree house,” a second-story deck that extends into the garden. Artist Gertrude Barnstone fabricated the multicolored steel pedestrian gate.