Vera Kirkpatrick built a home in Ashland, Oregon using century-old posts and beams. The stay-at-home mom on a tight budget designed open rooms and decorated in a timeless, spare Scandinavian style. Beautifully rustic, hand-chiseled pine and cedar timbers are fitted with wooden pegs, but new construction materials and techniques like passive solar were also employed. … Read more
Julien Cohen’s home was carved into the cliffl in La Roque Gageac, a troglodytic village. He spent 5 years in this sliver of a home where the stone face is everywhere. The ceiling of his closet and shower, behind the refrigerator, and in the wall looming over the bed were carved from stone. During the … Read more
“This House Never Ends” is a renovation project in Melbourne, Australia, designed by Steffen Welsch Architects. The design applies passive solar principles with thermal mass, insulation and cross ventilation. It uses double-glazed timber doors and recycled brick. A 4.75 kilowatt photovoltaic system powers the house, while a heat pump and induction burner negate the need … Read more
This project of transforming an old courtyard into a village center is located in Yuan Jue Si Village in ancient Sichuan, China. Two dilapidated houses have the same courtyard, but they are relatively independent. The two independent roofs and the two disabled buildings are connected, redefining the spatial relationship between them. The roofs were raised … Read more
Tom Keel, who lectures at Deakin Business School, says that by paying attention to the family dog we can make our homes and other buildings more sustainable, comfortable and cheaper to run. “Since long before we built homes and burnt coal and gas for heating and cooling, dogs have been living comfortably,” Mr Keel said. … Read more
Bruce Jones left a comment on a recent blog post about some fun backyard sheds: “My family name is JONES so I’m a Welshman, five generations removed. Seeing these incredible creations is inspiring. I bought a small mountain in the High Desert of SoCal (part of the greater Mojave Desert) sixteen months ago and have … Read more