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Posts Tagged ‘houses’

Dormer Extravaganza in Berkeley

Posted in Found Objects, tagged additions, Berkeley, curiosities, dormers, houses, humor, palimpsest, roof design on April 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

I bet the little attic room is pretty nice from the inside, but you have to wonder what they were thinking.

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Charles and Tim Heppner Passive House in Chicago

Posted in Found Objects, tagged green, houses, passive house, passive solar, recycled, rustic, salvaged, solar electricity, windows on February 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In the fall of 2009 I visited this Passive House on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. I didn’t really know much about Passive houses at the time, but I was impressed by one thing in particular. The homeowner opened a window on the first floor and there was no rush of cold air. In fact there was no perceptible air movement at all. This was because The house is very “tight” The air didn’t rush in because there wasn’t anywhere for it to go. I won’t go rambling on about what a passive house is here. Follow the link to my article on the topic, or just Google “passive house” or passivhaus.”

More information about this particular house:

Green Building Advisor

Interview with one of the owners

I need some more information about how it has been performing since commissioning. Perhaps the owner will make a comment on this post.

Beyond its Passive house status, the house has many fine recycled details such as these vent covers made from 100 year old soffit:

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A truly unique piece of architecture

Posted in Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, houses, humor on January 19, 2011| 4 Comments »

I love houses that cannot be categorized. Or maybe they all can be……anyone got a name for this style?

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The Painters at Work

Posted in Design Projects, tagged color, El Cerrito, houses, paint on November 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

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Cats enjoying their new window

Posted in Design Projects, tagged cats, doorways, El Cerrito, houses, whimsy on October 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Pastis and Cognac are happy that their owners kept one clear pane for them

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De Stijl in El Cerrito

Posted in Design Projects, tagged doorways, El Cerrito, houses, mahogony, process, wood on September 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The front door was installed yesterday. Now we are working out the trim details. (Ignore the blue painters tape please)

We decided to make the fir continue all the way to the ceiling and the corner for simplicity Having a sliver of white to the right of the door and a wider sliver above would have diminished the installation. I admit some influence by the intersecting planes of Gerrit Rietveld’s Schröder House

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Portière in Cold Spring Harbor

Posted in Found Objects, tagged buildings on the water, Cold Spring Harbor, doorways, houses, interiors, value on September 21, 2010| 1 Comment »

Portière: a curtain hung in a doorway, either to replace the door or for decoration.

I visited my friend Duncan last week at his parent’s house in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island:

I learned this word from Duncan’s mother, Elizabeth Watson, an architectural historian. She has a these good examples of simple, utilitarian portière in her own house:

This architectural term comes from the French word for door, porte. Common in wealthier households during the Victorian era (according to Wikipedia,) curtains are still a great way to create privacy, mitigate drafts, hide a messy closet, subdivide a space, or create a cozy nook. Its much more affordable to put up a curtain than install any sort of door, and it is especially appropriate if you need a temporary or quick solution, or if you get excited about fabrics or a splash of color.

Here is a fancier example of Portière from the National Gallery in Washington DC:

I also found this drapery design blog with all sorts of examples of portière.

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All New Skin in El Cerrito

Posted in Design Projects, tagged El Cerrito, energy efficiency, exterior shading devices, houses, redwood on August 6, 2010| 3 Comments »

We (deedsdesign & Canivet Construction) have just started work on this exciting face lift and energy efficiency update in the El Cerrito Hills!

Tight budget 1972 modernism would probably be the best description of this house. It has an open floor plan, vaulted ceilings with clerestory windows and sweeping views of the bay. Many of the single pane aluminum windows are such random sizes that it seems likely that the owner might have bought them for cheap somewhere (long before Craigslist) and made them fit into the design. As is common in the east bay hills, the house has a lot of west-facing glass to take advantage of the views. All this glass is problematic because it means that a lot of direct afternoon and evening sun blasts the living spaces.

So, as well as replacing the aged siding with a rain screen, adding shear strength, replacing all the windows and doors with new insulated units, rearranging and resizing many of them, replacing and slightly modifying the double-deck, adding a hot tub (!!!) and insulating with blown-in cellulose, we are adding some exterior window shades to moderate that afternoon sun.

European Rolling Shutters (http://www.ers-shading.com/) is providing the shades and a nice red-orange retractable awning for the deck.

Stay posted as the project evolves!