Our house (and architect) are published!

Just got the news that an article in the Construction Reporter News blog about our house and our architect, Leslie Buerk of Kalyx Studio, was just published. Here is the link:

http://constructionreporternews.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/kalyx-studio-architecture-meets-permaculture-design/

We have only a few minor issues to be addressed by the contractor and Karin plans to install the trees and shrubs this weekend. Next week, mulch goes in and then I will take the final photos and post!

Hardscape (aka brick patios!) gets installed

Our landscapers have about finished the several little brick patios around the house. We have several small patios because our architect's idea (which we loved) was to give each family unit private indoor AND outdoor space. So here are some photos.

front entrance walk and patio

Casita patio

Karin Lynn's "hammock patio"

Guest room patio

The guest room patio (also on the north side) has irrigation underneath so Karin can put potted plants in this space.

And finally...my favorite patio...the outdoor kitchen patio! Once the fence is finished, we will place the outdoor furniture around. Can hardly wait!

kitchen patio from kitchen door

Kitchen patio looking east

Next the landscapers finish the gray water drainage system in the back yard, and then hook up the 1100 gallon cistern off the garage to the gutters. Once that's done, the trees will get planted and then the rest of the plant material installed.

landscaping begins!

The landscaping process has begun. We are working with Bard Edrington of Living Edge Landscaping. He is terrific! He is placing a grey water system in the front (fed from our two upstairs showers) and the back (fed from our washing machine). Here are a couple of photos of the front grey water system.

Bard is also sculpting the gardens into little dishes. Then we can flood irrigate because the water from our downspouts off the roof, or from our 1100 gallon cistern, or from the Rio Grande can flow right into the gardens.

Here is a photo of Bard with his Dingo (amazing little machine) sculpting the gardens.

Bard is also doing the hardscape...like brick porches and retaining walls. Here are a couple of photos of the brick porches.

And finally, something different...a shot of many cases of culinary lavendar that Karin Lynn processed for Los Poblanos. :)

Finally...new photos!

Our friends from IL, Grear and Linda, came for a wonderful visit! Grear is a great photographer and has a new camera! He took some great shots...and motivated us to get the art on the walls! With Pete (another buddy visiting with his wife Mary) and Grear's help, we got the art up and photos taken. Enjoy! We sure are! :)

dining room-big house

Kitchen-dining in big house

Big house kitchen

KP2 bedroom- minimal and zen-like!

Guest bedroom

Casita bedroom

View of big house from upstairs

South view of house

View driving up road

Casita kitchen

Big house living and dining rooms

PV now active! Check this out!

Many of you are aware that our goal with this house was to be Net Zero Energy...which means that we create as much or more energy than we use. Well, yesterday the local electric company PNW "commissioned" our Photo-Voltaic system. This means it is now generating electricity from the sun and running it backwards into the grid. A couple of photos illustrate this.

Before PV active

We actually have two meters. One shows the amount of electric we pull from the grid and the REC meter shows how much electricity we create with our PV panels. You can see above that this photo was taken before the PV system was active...all zeros...no electricity created.

After PV active

And this photo was taken about 24 hours after the PV system went active showing that our PV system has already generated 20kw! Since we are know creating our own electricity when the sun is out, the use meter is actually now moving backwards! Supposedly there is a website I will soon get online access to monitor the activity of our 13 PV panels. Can hardly wait! :)

Last update photo is from our upstairs deck of our outdoor kitchen. I've used the grill several times already and am loving it. :)

Although we still have contractors in our home daily, they are making good progress (and are quite pleasant to have around actually!). I hope to be able to take inside photos soon, but we still have boxes laying around waiting for bookcases and final painting to be completed. Karin and Kristin completed about 80% of the landscape design and Karin plans to finish up the rest. Our landscaping will officially start on March 5 and is estimated to take another month or so.

Inching toward completion

It's closing in on two weeks since we moved in and while there has been progress, it still seems we have a long ways to go. But I thought I'd share some photos of the outside and highlight some of the progress.

permanent address, temporary house numbers

We are happy to have a permanent address...even if these numbers are temporary! In the next couple of weeks, we expect to mount a more permanent and LED-lit solution on the front wall.

Stella the guest house

Last weekend, we hauled Stella the 1969 Airstream Safari down to the property to assume her position as the official "guest house." It's nice to have Stella home. :)

Gardner's shed

The gardner's (that would be Karin Lynn!) shed is now complete. Too bad the light wasn't optimal but you get the idea. This little gem was constructed on site by Pat Crowe of Echo Reclamations and is from all reclaimed wood and metal. He did an absolutely fabulous job on it! Karin Lynn is the luckiest gardener in the North Valley for sure!

Here are a couple of front shots of the house. You may notice the addition of metal shade structures over these south facing windows. These were fabricated locally so they could be extended in the summer months (to keep out the sun) and retracted in the winter months (to let the sun in). We think they add a lot to the look of the house too. Modulus, a local contractor and fabricator, did the work which was designed by Leslie Buerk our architect of Kalyx Studio. Nice, huh?

front view with shade structures in place

nuther view of front

Kristin is still here working hard with Karin Lynn on the landscape design. They are making great progress, using plants mostly native to this area. My sister, Cindy, is due in this afternoon for a short visit. Very excited for her to see our new home...even though it is still not quite complete. Guess it will give her reason to come back! ;)

Moved in and nearly final!

The big move happened on Monday, Feb 6. We spent our first night on Tuesday. Kristin Perry (the third KP) arrived Wednesday night. We've just been so busy...unpacking like mad, but have also had many, many sub-contractors in our house every day patching dry wall, sanding, painting, etc so it's been difficult to unpack everything. We think by the end of next week most everything will be done...and then we start the punch list. :) Anyway, here are some near final photos so you can see how things are progressing. 

Casita kitchen near final

Casita living room near final

KP2 enjoying new couch in living room

Stairs in main house

Big house kitchen, near final

View from guest bedroom

Mudroom-entry from garage

Kris and Karin working on landscape design

View from casita bedroom

KP2 closet

KP's office

KP2 bath near final

KP2 bedroom near final

Kris on casita deck

Kris in casita clawfoot tub

guest bath near final

Karin enjoying new chair in living room

Landscaping is due to begin next week. They will start with shaping the garden dishes and the gray water system. Then comes the the brick patios and walkways. Fencing should happen in the next couple of weeks too. There will be an 1100 gallon cistern installed that will collect rain water off of the garage for the vegetable garden. So still much to be done! I'll post more when there is something new to show!