In the early '90s it became necessary to build a new house with an office for our business. Having seen a number of homes over the years that inspired me I set about designing a house that would fit a spot on our land that had a view to the east and south making it ideal for a passive solar design.

We had worked with an architect who was a graduate of my college on another house for another location but halfway through the design process we stopped because we finally had access to the top of our hill through a neighboring piece of property. This would allow for more room to build and would permit better solar gain throughout the winter. Having learned a lot from the architect on the previous design I decided to work with a professional engineer who would permit me to design and make the CAD drawings of the house. He would specify the structural parts of the house to ensure that the house met all aspects of the building code.

Looking at the site, a large boulder and the distant view, I started with the corner of the house that would have the living room and worked my way back to the dining room and kitchen. The kitchen had to have a door nearby to bring in the groceries, but should be far enough from the front door to look just right. I went with an open plan for the living room and dining room to maximize being able to look out the windows to the east and south.

For the design I had a few houses in mind that we liked the style of: my grandfather's cedar shingled house in NH, my wife's mother's house in northern CA (see photo below), and a house that was in the distant hill and was owned by the financial columnist Jane Bryant Quinn and her husband. (The mid '80s Quinn house is no longer part of my distant view as it was razed a few years ago in what may be one of Westchester County's most expensive tear downs!)

 Northern CA inspiration

After months of working on a design, I completed a set of drawings that would allow the surveyors to place stakes at the corners of the house and the excavation could begin. Because one can excavate in our town without a permit, the idea was to excavate down to the ledge rock and then measure the varying heights of the rock and adjust the foundation so no blasting was necessary. The plans were finalized after this and submitted for the building permit.

All CAD work was performed with a program called MacDraft on my old Mac CX. Below is a shot of the screen with a cross-section shown.

It took months to build the complicated forms for the concrete foundation and many more months to complete all cement work. From the time of excavation in March, 1991 until the house started to be framed was over a year. I did all of the manual labor myself at night and on weekends. I had to drill over 200 holes in the rock to anchor the house and it is doubtful if an earthquake could ever move the foundation because of this extra work.

The framing took a year and the interior work was an additional year. An electrician and plumber did their related work to house once the roof was on. Because a neighbor had fallen off the roof of his house while checking the shingles I purchased a harness and heavy rope that is the type that tree trimmers use. I never had any problems putting the roof on and at its highest point one part of the roof is nearly three stories high.

One major interior job that I did not perform was the wood floor in the living room and dining room. In about a week a professional did the work that would have taken me over a month!

The septic system was built by the same contractor who had excavated the house and the long trench for the high voltage cable for the house. To keep many trees around the house the septic field is about 200' away and straight down the hill to the southwest.

As designed, we have a decent solar gain in our heating on sunny days in the winter and many fans including one in the attic, plus the many trees close to the house help to keep temperatures tolerable without air conditioning in the summer, although this summer has been about the most uncomfortable since moving in.

This house would not appeal to many people looking for a "great room" or two story entrance hall. It also has no garage and the cars are parked over 100' away which makes for a lot of extra exercise! It is also an "upside down" house since the bedrooms are on the lower level and the main living area is above for the maximum view. These differences from the typical home constructed today could hurt resale in the future if we find ourselves having to move for some reason, but meanwhile I like the house the way it is!

I should add that I am already in the midst of having to repaint the interior and other similar projects on the house. Time, wear and tear, and the weather take their toll on the house.

It was an unforgettable experience to build the house and it is a large scale construction project that I have no plans to repeat!

Above and below: the first scoops of earth pulled from the ground.

Prior to the floor joists being built, one of the lower corners of the house. The following three photos also show how the concrete is formed to follow the rugged contours of the natural rock ledge.

Wall studs being built in the basement section.

The start of the lower level floor joists and subfloor plywood.

Exterior wall sections of the lower level.

Overall view of the house part way through the framing process.

Wall sections nearly complete along one part of the south and north walls.

Sub flooring complete in the area of the kitchen.

A view of the house prior to the roof rafters being built looking north from the woods below.

Finished framing in the living room.

Framing completed on one area of the lower level.

The corner of the living room with the finished floor-to-ceiling windows.

A photo of the kitchen that I took several years ago. It's normally not so devoid of people standing and things/food on the counter. While I did not construct the cabinets, I installed them myself and all of the tile on the counter and floor, as well.

The house as seen looking at the side that receives the most sun in the winter.

A view of the living room above and two bedrooms below from the outside.

In keeping with the spirit of my old hen house studio renovation that I posted about recently I have a new, small studio in the woods away from the house makes for a great retreat, just as the old hen house studio was!