apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Beautiful home! Congrats to you for doing it right.

Very well done. I would be interested in the cost of this home vs. a similar sized home built "the old fashioned" way. And how the photovotaics, wind turbine, etc. will help them recoup those costs. Maybe it is on the website, I haven't gone there yet.

Nice execution and idea. Would be interested to know what the total end cost was though as I suspect that it is still way beyond the reach of most people.

I like the bathroom sink. Also Agree with comments above I would like to see the cost break down vs. a "traditional" home

What a lovely house -
I'm so impressed that in this era of Mega-McMansions that they kept the place under 2000 sq ft!

WANT.

Like everything but the staircase. It looks unsafe, especially if there are kids.

I also would like to know the entire cost. I do not see it on the website.

The Return on Investment cost would be important too. I am sure each year the energy savings gets better and better.

My favorite part is the retaining wall - a "living wall" made with compost and net. http://www.zeroenergyideahouse.com/LivingWall.html

It's a lovely, LOVELY house, but I'm afraid I have to agree - the stairs look unsafe for younger children, the elderly, or someone who is ill.

I don't get there stairs. Are there holes in each one? Also the staggered thing looks cool, but as someone who recently tweeked their knee and was in a brace -- well, I guess I wouldn't have been going upstairs.

Cool home.

So, rude question....what kind of $$ are we talking (especiall when compared to a non green comp).

i was very surprised to see a house tour with so many photos but only four of the actual interior of the house. i feel like i have no idea what the overall floorplan is.

Wow - thanks for this post, Anne. We're going to try to go to an open hosue.

Wow! great house tour!

I love the stairs. The ship method allows a sharper slope so the stairs have a smaller footprint. Because they alternate, the feel/sensation is the same as a regular staircase - but the design dictates which foot you use.

I'd love to see that riser in twenty years; it should be beautifully bruised by then.

Would it be rude to ask the cost?

I love the lighting in this house. Beautiful!

Cool home though I would guess the cost is way above us normal working class people could afford.

this is one of the nicer eco homes that I have seen. It is modern and yet sort of rustic at the same time. It's a kind of modern that most people can see themselves living in.

A note on the staircase: just based on these photos, it looks like it only goes to a single lofted room in the back part of the gable.

I suspect that that staircase doesn't see a lot of regular traffic -- the room may be an office only used by one person, or is more of a crow's nest to look out over the lake. I once knew a family who had a similar setup: a rolling library ladder led to a lofted office/library that overlooked their living room.

It looks as though the bedrooms are located on the lower floor, which is at basement level on the front side of the home, but exposed to the lake view on the back.

Do the interior pictures bug anyone else? They look contrived to me . . like they are computer renderings and not the real deal.

For instance . . the picture with the stairs . . . the floor at the foreground of the pic looks like it's at the wrong angle to be real . . . .

if it is real . . . . it's beautiful. stunning. even the stairs.

My earlier comment got deleted. The basic thought was: high marks for green-ness, low marks for aesthetics.

Also, it can't be a "zero-energy" house if it costs $500 per year to run it. What's wrong w/calling it "low-energy" or "energy-efficient?"

And I agree with Limelightshines: those photos (?) do have a computer-generated look to them.

wasting water for a photograph...??

I would also be interested in the cost. and I live in the area and am always leary of how well solar energy would work here? Is it really worth the cost of putting it in? I would work great in the summer but I would guess they are going to mainly rely on the wind power? Beautiful house though.

you do have to be wealthy to be eco-friendly. Beautiful house; probably a million or nearly. Housing is once again for rich

It's really neat to see this in western WA. It doesn't surprise me that you had so much fun with the Bellevue Building Department... they're generally known amongst the construction and remodeling industry for ranking first when it comes to being "helpful".

The reason the pictures look 'contrived' is because they were clearly taken with a wide angle lens so they can get more picture in the picture...you know the edges are kinda stretched and curved, big whoop.

I am also slightly confused by the $500 yearly cost, if its a zero energy house...perhaps thats dividing the cost of the solar panels/wind/etc by their life expectancy? If that is the case then the cost of these green improvements could be affordable to the average family.

On the stairs, I don't see how they would be any less safe than regular stairs, in fact it prolly is a low traffic loft. And I do see what I think is a NEAT idea - those holes in the upper stairs look like HANDLES! This would be great for kids who would climb up them like monkeys, safest ladder ever!

P.S. Do you really need drought resistant plants and a giant cistern that slowly waters your yard when you live on a LAKE?

@ralphEmole
I live in this area (not ON the lake mind you - but in the city next to the lake/area) that's a great question! Growing up (elsewhere) I had a friend whose g-parents had a house on a little lake, and to water the lawn, they stuck a hose into the lake and a pump, and watered away!

I'm sure this place cost upwards of $1M . It's small, probably b/c those houses are all jammed up together on that end of the lake. Some of the older places have a lot of room, but this area is (most likely) near where the Mariners and other sports figures dwell...

I am pretty sure the lot alone cost close to $1 Mill. Not to mention the house. I know the real estate in this area and often people buy an older house on a lot and tear it down to build an eco-friendly house. Kind of silly to me.

NEED.
(LOVE the stairs)

I would have liked to have seen more photos of the interior, and a description of the green features - rather than all the photos. I can turn on planet green at any hour and watch feel-good green building. I come here for interior pics, mainly of apartments - which i will likely be living in my whole life. It would be nice to see apartment rentals being made green, and not for tens of thousands. I'm really tired of watching rich people building their green homes, and it's always a bargain because one of them is an architect and designed the house themselves, blah, blah, blah.

Well said tgoly! Each day, or each month, the bigger and more expensive homes are featured on "Apartment Therapy"..... Apartment Therapy was something to look at and think, yeah I could do that... now, this is another example of wows, I can never do, or afford anything like that! Keep things simple, fun and interesting... this spread is far beyond most people's budgets. Beautiful, but very staged - the containers of fruit are way too much. The stairs are dangerous looking. I wish they would install one of those 360 room view spinners for their spreads... now that would be fun.... please!

I would love to see a spiralling staircase there. Love the view and the light feel of this home.

I agree with le_sacre though; more interior photos would have been nice, not as much of the construction site.