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Posts from the ‘Building’ Category

Apr 18

City Cabins in Green Home Tour

City Cabins on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill is the latest hi-performance, hi-tech homes built by award winning Green Builder Martha Rose, designed by CB Anderson Architects of Seattle The multi-certified City Cabins concept were completed in April 2012.

You can visit the Martha Rose during the Tour at Greenhome Solutions to find out about the green features of City Cabins, her upcoming projects and learn about her green building approach, style, and commitment. April 21 & 22, 2012 from 10am-4pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 24

A lighting assemblage in a new hi-performance Seattle home

The benefits of natural daylighting in a home or office can’t be over expressed.  Aside from the obvious energy-savings daylighting can offer a bit of drama, energy and add to ones cheerful disposition. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has documented increased worker productivity and a reduction in employee absenteeism in it’s LEED Certified buildings that has enhanced daylighting features.

Seattle home builder Martha Rose takes daylighting and interior lighting to a whole new level in her latest new homes in Seattle, City Cabins.  Maximizing daylighting with strategic placement of windows to allow the natural light to filter into the living spaces, one of the key elements are the 9’ tall ceilings which allow the windows to be placed six inches higher allowing greater depth of natural light into the living areas.

When the sun goes down the homes come alive with well thought-out ambient, task, way-finding and accent lighting.  The open stairways are well lite, using George Kovas’ wall sconces that direct light upward illuminating the tall ceilings as well as casting a soft light downward defining the wood slab steps.  The kitchen features 3 Hudson Bay pendant lights that offer the rare trifecta of lighting ambient, task and accent lighting perfect for a kitchen that looks more like a living area than a food prep area.

The advance lighting package allows the homeowners to easily transition from dinner to after dinner by way of ambient style lighting with undercounter LED lighting and a custom designed dining room fixture that is also a great transitional piece.  The custom fixture is made from a 4’ piece of apple wood (same as the kitchen cabinets) shaped into an artist palette.  Suspended from the ceiling wrapped in stainless steel, the palette shaped fixture takes on a bit of a commercial look while helping to define the dining space from the living room and kitchen areas.  The fixture has a solar tube coming through it surrounded by 7 LED micro-spot lights which can be directed to showcase or to accent.

All of the lighting is eco-friendly energy saving CFL and LED bulbs which use less electricity, last longer than regular light bulbs and put out minimal heat.

The two homes are currently listed for sale, for more information contact Adrian Willanger, Coldwell Banker Danforth.

Related posts:

  1. Stainless in Seattle (11.1)
  2. New Seattle homes have a distinctive urban craftsman vibe (9.5)
  3. People-centric Homes in Seattle near completion (9.4)
  4. Invest In Seattle Green Real Estate and Reduce Your Electricity Bills (9.4)
  5. Tips To Help You Find Hi-Performance Houses In Seattle (8.9)

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 23

Not your grandfather’s City Cabins

Martha Rose’s newest hi-performance homes on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill have borrowed old school cabin design elements; building techniques, craftsmanship, attitudes that form follows function mixed with an abundance of natural materials.  The energy-efficient homes are an inspiring look into the next-gen of homes, built with modern hi-tech construction techniques and hi-performance equipment and appliances.

Borrowing from the Arts and Crafts movement Rose has wisely integrating bits and pieces of the pre-industrial faction into City Cabins.  Blending natural materials into finished products, recycled tongue and groove wood plank flooring becomes part of the structure; large Douglas Fir laminated beams create stability while adding interesting architectural elements to the interior.

Blacksmith-Artesian Silas Maddox, owner of Forge & Nail, has been contracted to add elements of beauty that also serve a function and create longer lasting value to the project.  While walking around the homes you can’t help but notice the identifiable hand forged elements that are purposeful and add to the overall look and feel of City Cabins, these small details are often overlooked in spec home building, yet, really add to the authentic look and feel of the finished homes.

The artful blending of Arts and Crafts elements together with high-tech building science are an extremely rare combination in spec-building. Yet, Rose believes that to truly differentiate her homes from the competition she needs to keep part of her old school foundation forged with innovation, building science and Lean building principles to be profitable.

The City Cabins on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill have been well received with multiple-offers on one of the two homes.   For information contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536, Coldwell Banker Danforth.

Related posts:

  1. Cultural Juxtaposition Can Be Seen in City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill (18.4)
  2. The much awaited City Cabins coming mid-January (18.3)
  3. City Cabins on Queen Anne to Host Summer Green Building Classes (16.2)
  4. City Cabins to be in Seattle Green Home Tour (14.9)
  5. City Cabins –The Urban Hybrid (14.6)

Feb 22

Stainless in Seattle


The idea behind using a one piece kitchen counter, back-splash and sink made out of stainless steel was” an easy decision when taking into account all of the other finish elements that have gone into City Cabins,” mentions builder Martha Rose.

The stainless steel counters and sink turns out to be the perfect integral accent to the high end stainless appliances in the hybrid homes.  Understated and seamless, they don’t immediately jump out at you, after looking and touching and perhaps asking what these are you are drawn –in.

Rose was targeting a pool of buyers looking for quality, durability and a sense of authenticity while she was choosing the finishes for City Cabins.  The counters provide a unique transition from the apple wood cabinets, open beam-ceiling and the reclaimed plank flooring by offering a metal element to offset the mix of wood.  Originally designed as homes to be functional, energy efficient and filled with character.

The “Cabins” on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill have been well received with multi-offer on one of the two homes and lots interest on the remaining one.   For more information contactAdrian Willanger 206 909-7536, Coldwell Banker Danforth.

 

Related posts:

  1. New Seattle homes have a distinctive urban craftsman vibe (15.3)
  2. Green Builder Selects the AirTap for their Hot Water Solution (13.4)
  3. The much awaited City Cabins coming mid-January (12.7)
  4. Seattle Green Builder freshens up marketing to reflect trend towards Zero-energy(11.9)
  5. Builder Uses Salvaged Flooring to Help Reduce Their Environmental Footprint (9.7)

Feb 10

The Great Wall of Queen Anne

Actually the phrase is the “great green wall” of Queen Anne.   The green wall is the creation of award winning Seattle Green Builder Martha Rose.  “The great green wall” is actually the wall system designed for her latest hi-performance homes City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill.

The overall goal of the homes was to get to or near net-zero as possible without adding active solar equipment.  The active solar equipment would help off-set the paid-for electricity needed for its occupants.

A major part of using less electricity is in the design and building of the homes.  A tight building envelope includes walls systems, windows, doors, and advance sealing and insulation techniques.  The exterior walls of the City Cabins are an advanced framing double wall system with 1” of blue foam board, ½” inch of CDX plywood with an outer layer of Hardi-plank siding.  The cavities of the wall are filled with no VOC blown-in-fiberglass batts.

City Cabins at framing stage

The 9 ½” thick walls have an R-31 rating, normal code build homes would typically have wall systems rated between R-19 and R-21.  The multi-solution wall system helps keep out moisture and wind, greatly reduces the need for large heating and cooling components, increases indoor thermal comfort by eliminating drafts and will aid in reducing the homeowners overall utility costs.

The multi-certified hi-performance hi-tech City Cabins are now available for sale, for more information contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.

Related posts:

  1. City Cabins in Seattle are Designed for both Passive and Active Solar Heating (18.4)
  2. City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill Are Aiming at Being Part of the Solution (18.3)
  3. The Juniper Connection on Queen Anne Hill (17.8)
  4. Color up Your Queen Anne Condo For A Great Effect! (17.4)
  5. Green Steps on Queen Anne Hill (16.3)

Feb 8

New homes on Queen Anne Hill offer solar upgrades as standard features

New homes on Queen Anne Hill offer solar upgrades as standard features

Martha Rose’s latest hi-performance homes, City Cabins, on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill are designed and built utilizing a whole house “system” approach, one of the many hidden benefits of the hi-tech  City Cabins are the energy-efficient upgrades added as standard equipment……….More Information                                       

Benefits of solar equipment

Seattle Builder Martha Rose has wired the garages of the two new hi-performance homes one Queen Anne for electric car power charging stations as well as installing a 1.9 kilowatt (KW) solar-panel system on one of the two City Cabin homes, the other is pre-wired and can accommodate up to a 5KW solar system. The 1.9 system should produce 2000KW hours of electricity annual, enough, according to Tacoma Power and Light, to power an electric car 7000-10,000 miles (depending on the make and model). If an electric car isn’t an option the electrical power produced from the 1.9KW system should offset the home owner’s electricity cost by 20-25% depending on the home owner’s energy use behaviors. In addition to the monthly savings there are also is a 3o% tax credit from the Federal Government good through 2014 in addition to the net-metering production incentives through Seattle City Light.

Feb 1

Seattle’s newest hi-performance hi-tech homes are now available for sale

Seattle’s newest hi-performance hi-tech homes are now available for sale.

 PHOTOS-PHOTOS-PHOTOS

Martha Rose’s newest collection of hi-performance hi-tech homes are now available for sale in Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill neighborhood.  These next-gen homes are filled with energy-efficient building elements from heating and cooling equipment, low wattage lighting, and each home is filled with abundance of natural daylighting.

For more information contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.

Dec 27

The much awaited City Cabins coming mid-January

City Cabins to be completed mid-January 2012!

The much awaited 2 high-performance hi-tech homes built by award winning Builder Martha Rose Construction in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood are due to be completed in mid-January 2012.

The near net-zero homes are filled with hi-end energy efficient equipment that is a perfect compliment to the hi-tech building techniques used to build City Cabins. Rose has  developed a solid reputation for building  award winning hi-performance homes and building  in the  Seattle marketplace has continually  pushed the energy-efficient envelope.  The building and design of City Cabins should be Rose’s most energy-efficient homes so far.

Homes will be open for view and tours beginning Sunday January 22, 2012. For more information contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nov 17

Is Your New Home Ready for the Cars of the Future?



Is Your Home Ready for the Cars of the Future?


Several major auto makers like Audi, BMW and Volkswagen are leading the way utilizing lightweight auto body materials and electrified powertrains to build cars of the future. RMI has come out with a 5 step program that outlines how we can reduce our oil addiction by 2050. Read the full article by Jesse Morris and Greg Rucks

Nov 4

The Art of Sustainable Building in Seattle

The Art of Sustainable Building in Urban Seattle

The art of sustainable development starts by analyzing the building site and coming up with a site design that protects natural and other features that exist on the site. Builder Martha Rose  elected to reuse a large percentage of the existing foundation from the existing 1940 duplex for their latest urban project City Cabins in Seattle. Retooling and reusing the existing foundation was a key component in reducing pollution from construction activities by minimizing soil erosion, topology disturbance, waterway sedimentation and dust that would have taken place if they had elected to use traditional construction methods.

The three  story homes are designed to take advantage of the views of  Fisherman’s Terminal and the Olympic Mountains to the West while providing natural daylighting and privacy without feeling like you’re in an urban-fishbowl. The homes are slightly terraced off the street separated by an elevated sidewalk from street level.  The terracing offers the City Cabin homeowners privacy from the pedestrian’s view while the top of terrace offer a level platform for sitting, greeting neighbors or just enjoying the view.

The raised sidewalk is a unique urban pattern that adds to the walkability of the North Queen Anne neighborhood, configuring to the natural terrain the walkway offer increased pedestrian safety from automobiles, view corridors and green planting strips that separate the sidewalk from the street.

City Cabins are scheduled for a mi-December completion for more information visit CityCabins.com or alternatively contact  Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.

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