2 pending sales
MARKET UPDATE: March 12, 2012, two hi-performance homes built by Martha Rose Construction in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood are both under contract. For more information please contact Adrian Willanger Adrian@AdrianWillanger.com.
Posts from the ‘News’ Category
Mar 16
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:
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.
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.
New Homes on Queen Anne Hill approaching net-zero
New Homes on Queen Anne Hill approaching net-zero
City Cabins builder Martha Rose’s passion for sustainable building can be traced back to the energy crisis of the 1970s. “The Carter administration started giving grants to people with innovative about how to use less energy,” mentions Rose.
When Rose learned about the Built Green program in Seattle in 2003 she thought this would be natural transition for her company to become “certified green home builder.” Her company was already following much of the guidelines on the Built Green checklist.
Since 2003 many of Rose’s project have become more energy efficient than the previous projects. Rose continues to push the energy saving envelope utilizing new techniques in building science and material innovations to get closer to the goal of building a net-zero home.City Cabins in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood are getting very close, the two high-performance come with many built in features that most builders charge extra for such as increased insulation, quadruple glazed windows, heat-recovery-ventilator, and extremely high-end Energy Star appliances.
The homes are at finishing stage and are scheduled to be completed in December 2011. For more information visit CityCabins.com or alternatively contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.
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
A special thanks…..
A special thanks…..
November is a time of year for being thankful. The staff of Martha Rose Construction want to give a special thanks and acknowledgment for all the men and women who have faithful served our nation daily in the Armed Forces. Knowing that some of these sacrifices are beyond measure and words are not enough to show our appreciation for all that you are doing and have done. Thank You!
Green Steps on Queen Anne Hill
City Cabins' energy heels
Green Steps on Queen Anne Hill
Award winning green home builder Martha Rose, president of Martha Rose Construction in Seattle, believes building a high-performance home you really have to pay attention to the small details.
At her current project, City Cabins in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, prior to installing the drywall Rose has a thermographic inspection by building performance consultant Tom Balderson.
Using an infrared camera they look check for cool spots in the exterior walls. This helps Rose determine if there is any air infiltration that needs to be sealed prior to drywalling and also as a quality control measure to make sure the insulation has been installed correctly.
After the drywall has been installed, taped and all the finished work has been installed Rose will have Balderson do a blower door test to look once again for any air leakage, the leaks will appear has as contrasting colors on the viewfinder of the infrared camera.
City Cabins are perhaps the most energy efficient spec-homes on the market today in the Pacific Northwest. The homes are slated for a mid-December completion. For more information contact Adrian Willanger, LEED AP. Or visit the website CityCabins.com.
Queen Anne Real Estate Price Trends
Queen Anne Real Estate Price Trends
The median single family home price as of October 14, 2011 East Queen Anne (zip code 98109) is $800,000.
The median single family home price as of October 14, 2011 West Queen Anne (zip code 98119) is $711,000.
Using Median Price is often a very good proxy for indicating real-time market activity because sellers in a market will typically price their home according to other similar homes in that market. This is not a perfect science, yet most sellers with help from their real estate agents tend not to overprice their homes choosing to price closer to where it will eventually sell.
Both zip codes, 98109 & 98119, have showed steady price increases since the beginning of the spring market. While West Queen Anne 98119 is showing signs of rising pricing East Queen Anne just started showing signs that it may be starting a seasonal “flattening.”
For a more detailed breakdown by zip codes contact me Adrian Willanger.
This could be the news Seattle home builder Martha Rose is looking for. Her latest high-performance homes, City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill, are scheduled to be completed in December of 2011.
The New Green Appraisal Addendum
Last month the Appraisal Institute published their green addendum which can be attached to any appraisal. The addendum won’t guarantee that the homeowner or builder will get their increased property value for the green features added but what is guaranteed is that it will at least be looked at.
The new addendum can be downloaded filled out and submitted as part of the appraisal to the lender. Some of the key points are to make sure that the energy saving features are listed accurately and if you can provide any records of energy production or savings these would be documents that should be included.
Any third party certifications (LEED, Energy Star, Built Green, Earth Advantage) documentation should also be included for review. Appraiser using the new addendums will be better equipped to compare like features and properties much easier when determining value.
Seattle builder Martha Rose mentions that she already filled out both the Appraisal Institutes’ Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum along with the High Performance Home Addendum from Earth Advantage filled out for her new homes, City Cabins. “I typically will include any third party energy estimated usage reports along with lots of photos of the construction methods we use.” “Typically we won’t get full credit for all the components that go into building a high-performance home but it’s a good start” comments Rose.
City Cabins Locked-Up
City Cabins at framing stage
City Cabins Locked-Up
Two of the last remaining defenses used to divert moisture penetration in new construction are the windows, doors and exterior cladding. The siding and windows are being completed this week at City Cabins in Seattle Washington.
The final windows are being installed this week completing the “lock up” phase. The selection of Serious Windows was made because of their overall thermal and acoustic performance.
Controlling rain water and moisture penetration is especially important when Seattleites experience seasonal rainfall and dampness without many sun breaks that would normally allow for installed materials periods to dry out. To mitigate these concerns, builder Martha Rose and her architectural team have designed a comprehensive building envelope, roof overhangs, advance sealing techniques, custom made stainless steel window pans all designed to help avoid water and or moisture infiltration.
Each exterior layer designed for a specific purpose; yet working together they provide an advantageous, long-term wall assembly that will aid in reducing long-term maintenance costs and increase the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the homes.
An important item to note is that during the construction of City Cabins it has been one of driest summer/fall seasons in recent Seattle history helping to avoid lengthy drying out periods between construction applications.
City Cabins are the latest high-tech high-performance homes built by Martha Rose Construction, conveniently located in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood with close proximity to the bustling South Lake Union neighborhood as well a short distance to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Fremont, Ballard and downtown Seattle.
City Cabins are scheduled to be completed in the 4th quarter of 2011, for more information visit CityCabins.com or contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.
