Boasting one of the lightest carbon footprints any home has ever achieved, and tucked away in the redwood forests of the Bay Area Peninsula’s coastal mountain range, this home accomplished everything that it set out to do. As a second home for San Francisco dwellers it needed to be comfortable yet functional, beautiful yet easy to maintain and most of all functionally reliable. The modern art collection and the stunning views make this the dream venue for a weekend retreat, but when winter storms knock out the power for days on end the stored solar power guarantees that the appliances continue to function and the lights work when the occupants arrive.
The construction process itself was also a low-carbon exercise. Instead of hauling old concrete foundations away they were sliced up and used for site retaining walls. The first of its kind structural lumber sourced from reclaimed local buildings and the exterior siding salvaged from local barns were part of the keep-it-local construction theme.
