Exterior Home Tour

First off, I’d like to wish y'all a happy Earth Day! It’s a gorgeous, sunny day in my neck of the woods today. If you know me, you know I’m celebrating by going for a bike ride. (If you don’t know me … I’m semi-obsessed with bikes.)

OK, on to our house. You may have forgotten by now, but I promised you pictures of our home’s exterior a really long time ago. Sorry about that! I had to dodge wind, rain and SNOW (!!!), but I finally got around to taking a few. Thank you for patiently waiting!

This is the north side of our home. I cropped out the pieces of machinery that haven't left our driveway yet! The weight limit should be lifted from our dirt road soon enough, though! That little bubble sticking out of our roof is a solar tube, which I'm happy to report, provides a surprising amount of light into the second floor bathroom. This time of year we are able to go until after 7:30pm without using an actual light in the room.

Below is a close up of our screened-in porch, which serves as the entrance to our home. We learned pretty quick that the porch will see much use--especially in "mud season" and during the winter. I've been told the screens will be a blessing in "black fly season" too.

Below is an interior shot of the porch ... unfinished as of now. If there's some left over, we are going to use the extra HardiePanel siding to cover the unfinished portion under the screens.
A photo from the east side of the house puts the screened-in porch into perspective a little better.
And here's a view of the home from the west...which also shows our utility meters. One meter is designed for homes like ours that are net metered, so it runs both forward and backwards depending upon energy consumption/solar production. The other measures only our solar production and is used for renewable energy credit purposes.
In the photo below, I'm standing at the edge of the clearing in our back yard, looking up at the south side of our home. I hope this gives you a better feel for our passive solar design. This side is where the majority of our windows exist and where our solar panels soak in the rays. The two solar panels on the top left of the metal roof are for solar hot water. The rest are to offset general electricity use. Our wood stove pipe is positioned to eliminate shading on the photovoltaic and solar hot water panels.

Here is a shot of our deck railing. We chose a wire insert instead of traditional vertical wood slats so as not to disrupt from the view.

Oh, right, and speaking of the view...
Whatever word I choose doesn't give it justice. And neither does that photo. It's our favorite part of the house.
I'm going to leave you with this photo ... just in case you thought I was joking when I said we had snow in April.

Virtual Home Tour!

We're finally living in our green home! It feels a little surreal. Actually, a lot surreal. But ultimately awesome.

I don’t think either of us can believe we own a house—even though that’s all we’ve been saving for these past five years!

I know you've been waiting very patiently for this...so without further ado, here is your very own virtual tour of our green home. Room by room.

Living Area
- Natural Vermont slate
- Wood stove
- Two ceiling fans (no AC)
- Reclaimed farm table
- Efficient windows/doors
- LED recessed lighting
- Zero VOC paint



Kitchen
- Natural cork
- Efficient windows
- Energy star-rated appliances
- Environmental Stewardship Program-certified wood cabinets
- Zero VOC paint
- Salvaged kitchen sink
- LED lighting
- Beeswax-sealed concrete countertop


The photo below is a bit dark, but I wanted to capture the view from the stovetop, so you could relate to my stove hood dilemma!


We looked into green countertops (such as Paperstone and Icestone), but they were out of our price range. We settled on concrete and are happy with the results. (Just don't let a glass jar of milk slip out of your hands...)


Guest Bedroom
- Natural cork
- Transom window to living area
- Zero VOC paint
- Efficient windows


First Floor Bathroom
- Salvaged bathroom vanity
- Low flow sink faucet (uses 20% less water than standard faucets)
- Natural Vermont slate
- Dual flush toilet
- Zero VOC paint
- H2Okinetic® Delta Shower faucet (uses 36% less water than standard showerheads)
- Transom window to kitchen
- Energy Star-rated fan
- Compact fluorescent light
- Salvaged window pane/soon-to-be mirror



Second floor office
- Bamboo flooring
- Zero VOC paint
- Efficient windows
- Ceiling fan
- Hidden sleeping area



(We love our Murphy bed...and it already got used when our friends visited!)

Second floor bathroom
- Natural Vermont slate (bathroom floor & shower floor)
- Dual flush toilet
- Low flow sink faucet
- Salvaged bathroom vanity
- Zero VOC paint
- Energy star-rated fan
- Solar tube
- Compact fluorescent light
- Efficient window
- Salvaged window pane/soon-to-be mirror


You can see in the photo below that we chose galvanized metal to line the shower instead of tile. This option was much less expensive and goes with the industrial barn look we wanted.




Nope, that's not a fluorescent light; it's the solar tube--on an overcast day!

Master bedroom
- Bamboo flooring
- Zero VOC paint
- Ceiling fan
- Sliding barn doors
- Efficient windows

I think a lot of people didn't get the sliding barn door concept. So, let me try to show you in photos. This is looking up at the master bedroom from the first floor.

With the doors shut...

...and with them open.

We also have a sliding barn door as you enter the master bedroom. Here is the view from inside our bedroom, looking down the hall.


Whew, I think that's about it for the interior...there's also a pantry off the kitchen and a full basement, but neither are very photogenic at the moment. ;)

I'll give you a tour of the exterior soon. So, stay tuned!