Speed Restrictions on Housing

Exit door of “Pipe Dreams” at Elefante, handcrafted home structures

I wish that I could claim that I thought of Slow Home first, what can I say?  I didn’t, but when I ran across the idea, I was like, “Well, yeeah.”  As a residential designer, who secretly (guess it’s no secret now) wants to design & build treehouses and garden rooms, I hope the Slow Home movement sweeps the nation.  I hope it brings a new era of building or deconstructing that encompasses environmental restorative design, reconnecting humans and nature, and is a celebration of the human spirit possessing both anima and animus traits.  That is all.

The 10 Steps to a Slow Home 

1. GO INDEPENDENT

Avoid homes by big developers and large production builders. They are designed for profit not people. Work with independent designers and building contractors instead.

2. GO LOCAL

Avoid home finishing products from big box retailers. The standardized solutions they provide cannot fit the unique conditions of your home. Use local retailers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to get a locally appropriate response and support your community.

3. GO GREEN

Stop the conversion of nature into sprawl. Don’t buy in a new suburb. The environmental cost can no longer be justified. Re-invest in existing communities and use sustainable materials and technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.

4. GO NEAR

Reduce your commute. Driving is a waste of time and the new roads and services required to support low density development is a big contributor to climate change. Live close to where you work and play.

5. GO SMALL

Avoid the real estate game of bigger is always better. A properly designed smaller home can feel larger AND work better than a poorly designed big one. Spend your money on quality instead of quantity.

6. GO OPEN

Stop living in houses filled with little rooms. They are dark, inefficient, and don’t fit the complexity of our daily lives. Live in a flexible and adaptive open plan living space with great light and a connection to outdoors.

7. GO SIMPLE

Don’t buy a home that has space you won’t use and things you don’t need. Good design can reduce the clutter and confusion in your life. Create a home that fits the way you really want to live.

8. GO MODERN

Avoid fake materials and the re-creation of false historical styles. They are like advertising images and have little real depth. Create a home in which character comes from the quality of space, natural light and the careful use of good, sustainable materials.

9. GO HEALTHY

Avoid living in a public health concern. Houses built with cheap materials off gas noxious chemicals. Suburbs promote obesity because driving is the only option. Use natural, healthy home materials and building techniques. Live where you can walk to shop, school and work.

10. GO FOR IT

Stop procrastinating. The most important, and difficult, step in the slow home process is the first one that you take. Get informed and then get involved with your home. Every change, no matter how small, is important.    

Ah, the Emerald Coast

I just couldn’t help myself.  I saw this article and I was hysterical.  I was instantly inspired to write about it.  Upon further reflection, I thought JHK would do it better justice.  I ripped off an e-mail to JHK and was delighted this morning to see a reply.  Not that I didn’t think he read his e-mail, but I certainly had the impression he had quite a bit of it to wade through.  Because I read JHK every day, hope to see him in person at some point in my life and love his satirical, punchy and descriptive prose, I had to post our short correspondence…for the archives.

Dear Jim,
I am an avid reader of Cluster*uck Nation and thought you’d be interested in this article.  Well, not really interested, or surprised really, it’s just another absurdity of our times.  “Realtors Pray for Better Times” http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725, just a few short miles from Seaside, FL.  Huh??  I guess they haven’t read The Long Emergency or don’t connect the real estate bust with maybe someone upstairs is trying to tell us something.  Maybe instead of praying for a resurgance of house sales and well, let’s face it, more destruction of the planet, they should be praying for another way to feed themselves.  Hey, I’m in this growth industry as well and you better believe I’m working on some other skills to survive the long emergency.  The world and especially the Emerald Coast has too many realtors and designers (myself included) as it is.  The lull in the housing market isn’t hurting my feelings, Im spending more time in the garden and getting acquanted with my neighbors both human and otherwise.  When will these people get a clue and how can that preacher seriously lead a prayer asking God to allow these realtors to continue their profession by exploiting this planet some more.  It’s simply mind boggling.  Ta-ta and I hope you get to Seaside some day again soon.  I’ll be there!

His reply:

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725

Hey, thanks for this.  I just posted it on “The Daily Grunt” http://www.kunstler.com/ That part of Florida has just exploded beyond all limits. Seaside and Rosemary Beach were great things.  But all the wannabes and copycats maye have come to the party too late.I hope they don’t get whacked by storms on top of this.

Jim
“It’s All Good”
(”Va Tutto Bene“)

Fun stuff.

Treehouse as Studio

I started out during the design phase of my home, wanting to build an office/ studio/ guest cottage at the rear of my property. As it turned out, it wasn’t in the budget. This was probably a good thing because at the location where it was sited, I didn’t realize until after the lot was surveyed, there is a nice little grove of young live oaks amongst a thick bed of palmettos. Of course, now that my daughter is graduating and is soon to move on, building another structure just for guests seems silly and the home office still functions perfectly in the the third bedroom. Now I’ve decided if I still need some sort of studio to “get away” or create, I would like to build something open and treehouse-esque. Even though I don’t have any trees large enough to support a real treehouse, I was recently inspired by a childs playhouse nestled in a hardwood hammock that was sporting a bridge to a look-out. For all intents and purposes, it could be considered a treehouse. The treehouse concept is also fueled by a recent holiday gift, Treehouses of the World by Pete Nelson. Each of the treehouses featured in the book is truly spectacular in its own way. The one on the cover, the Redmond Treehouse is one of my favorite. It encompasses several trees that pop out at odd locations and the moss gives it the patina that is evidence that it has evolved over the last 20 years. If you’re engineeringly inclined, you’ll appreciate the design of a little device called the “GL”, which is used in modern treehouse construction as a support to anchor the beams of the treehouse to, so as to allow the tree mobility and growth. The GL hardware device can apparently support up to 9,000 lb.

Really, my intent was to post about ANOTHER idea for a studio, NOT the treehouse, but the treehouse is so organic and small and perfectly immersed in the natural environment, I couldn’t help myself. This other idea is not new, nor is it orginal and I found evidence of this right in my own hood.

The shipping container.

If someone would be interested, I’d love to design them a re-purposed shipping container studio/ house/ outbuilding/ whatever. As for my own purposes, I’d love to use the shipping container, though the problem is fitting it on my narrow lot and wedging it in the back without taking out the sparkleberry tree. The other issue is of course aesthetics, I much prefer the look of two containers together (double wide, if I may) as opposed to a single. I love the charming gable roof on these, though on mine, I would design a barrel roof made of corrugated metal set on some beefy 4″x8″ beams just for fun. The roof would span the double wide. Then I’d design a simple lean-to porch on the long side with again the corrugated (mini preferred) metal roof over 2X4 purlins over 2X6’s, no I’d use “L” channel to keep the profile miniscule, set atop a beam supported by (2) reused 12″ dia. piles. I’ll have to work on that in SketchUp so you get the idea.

If you’re interested in pre-fab design and other ideas that have been executed with the container bay, check out http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm.

I would love nothing more than if we could reduce our living square footage to fit in a couple shipping containers and a treehouse and simultaneously start to appreciate and cultivate creative solutions to our living structures.

Casa de Maraposa - House III

I’ve been meaning to continue my exploration of more examples of the “reduce-reuse-recycle” housing model and low and behold, my work was done for me.  If you recall, the first home I described is a home that will be reused and relocated on the property (still in a holding pattern, though DEP has granted a permit).  The second home was remodeled using recycled materials.  The Casa de Maraposa or house III is an example of building new using advanced wall systems, reducing square footage and incorporating green practices throughout.  This project is still on the boards.  My friend and client has written a great post on the project so I won’t spoil the fun, read all about it at his blog.

About that letter to Microsoft

I recently wrote a letter to Microsoft Corporation regarding the recycling of a non-functioning mouse and keyboard.  I won’t repeat myself, though if you’re interested you can read about it here.  It was written in a moment of frustration, though after some reflection, I’m less certain about the proper placement of that frustration.  I was immediately frustrated because I thought I was doing the right thing by replacing a tiny little transceiver only to have my efforts thwarted by the company’s planned obsolescence.  I was further frustrated by the thought that I had succumbed to the advertising pressures to be that this was an item I needed, though that purchase was made previous to me deciding to become more proactive in the practice of sustainability.

Bohemian Bungalow - House II

Revisiting the past briefly, this is an oldie but a goodie.

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 The down and dirty:

• 800 sq.ft. beach house, built in the late 60’s
• basically destroyed from the inside out by termites
• 5 contractors looked at this project with no takers
• purchased the home at tax appraised value with cash

The renovation:

• $10,000 in materials which included: wood, drywall, wiring, plumbing, concrete, discounted metal roof, new misordered windows from building supply, paint and a LOT of caulk
• scavenged materials: solid mahogany doors from old restaurant, bricks and 5-panel wood doors from 1800’s house, oven and cabinets from street collection, misc. wood, insulation, appliances, plumbing fixtures from nearby house destroyed by tornado
• labor supplied by a close friend, daughter and self.

Where we lived during renovation: backyard, in a 1969 AirStream

Timeframe: approx. 6 months

Appraisal before renovation: $15,000

Appraisal after renovation: $55,000

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This story really begins with a charming red 1963 Dodge Dart convertible with rusted out floor boards and a fuel filter that needed continual cleaning.  I was working with a local architect and making about $12/ hr at the time, and my b.f. thought it imperitive that I buy this car, being that it was the ULTIMATE beach vehicle.  So, I did, for $1,500 that I really didn’t have.  Oh, we sure enjoyed that car though.  Several months after the car purchase, a tornado came barrelling down our street and took out about 10 houses, including a friends house, the Skrabalak’s.  Heh.

I decided it might be a smart idea to purchase one of the newly cleared tornado lots, build a new house then tear down our termite buffet.  The lot I wanted was $18,000 and I needed 10% down.  BTW, this was one of those lots within 1,000 ft. of the gulf.  I put the car up for sale, sold it for the same price as I purchased it, saved $300 and had my $1,800 to put down on the lot, which I promptly did.  After 3 months of trying to convince a bank (any bank) that I was a good risk for a construction loan to no avail, I gave up.  Realizing that I could no longer pay on the lot AND fix up my current abode, I opted to sell the lot and purchase an Air Stream.  I made a tidy profit of $5,000 (funny, right?) and promptly rolled 3 grand into the 24′ trailer, which I figured I would live in while I built a new house.  Still unable to get a construction loan with my salary, I decided I would do the next best thing when you have good credit…apply for every credit card on the planet and take out all cash advances possible.  This provided the $10,000 as noted above.

Oh, I almost forgot.  You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just get a home equity loan.  That’s because the house was in such disrepair it was uninsureable, hence unmortgageable.  Also, it was financially impossible to rent another home and simultaneously fix up my tear-down house.

Having the credit cards and cash in hand, we went about fixing up the house.  First it was jacked up (the roof was sagging about 6″), gutted and all the extraneous rotten additions were removed.  Then each exterior wall was rebuilt, one at a time.  New windows and doors, plumbing and wiring followed.  The floor was a peeling mess of poly-faux terrazo, which we recovered with 1.5″ of fresh concrete.  Then the new roof went on, followed by all the interior finishes, drywall, trim, paint, fixtures, etc.  It was a tremendous amount of labor that was being performed under a time crunch.  It was impairative to be complete before hurricane season due to the fact that insurance companies don’t write policies during that time.

It all came together about a week before June 1.  We completed the house renovation, the insurance company did an inspection and wrote me a policy.  With policy in hand,  I was able to go to my local credit union and apply for a home equity loan.  They gave me $20,000 to do home improvements (after the fact), which I in turn, used to pay off my credit cards used during renovation, as well as a few other debts.  I had about $2,000 remaining which I treated myself and family to a 3 month backpacking trip to Alaska.  This story continues but I’ll leave you here for now.  And that is just the beginning of how a 1963 Dodge Dart convertible transformed into a house.

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Epiphany

I had an epiphany.  Not the ‘manifestation of Christ’ kind of epiphany, but a ‘moment of sudden revelation’ kind of epiphany.  This MAY seem totally radical to some of you, like maybe I fell and bumped my head kind of radical.  To others, it may seem foolish and still others may see this as a natural progression towards creating a new economy built on value.  A quick disclaimer, I have done no research on this topic other than reading the books I have listed on my blog and reading other blogs.  This epiphany is driven on instinct alone at the moment and the results thereof may play out completely different in reality.  Here it goes.

I just e-mailed a client of mine with the proposal that he pay me, what he thinks my services are worth to him.

I’ve never done this before and I may never do it again but here’s a little background.  I’m a residential designer.  I don’t claim to be an architect, though according to the definition, architect best describes my profession.  I charge my clients by the hour or square footage depending on the circumstances.  One of the biggest challenge I often face is creating proposals.  Basically I put together a set of numbers that I think is a fair and marketable price for my services taking into consideration the parameters of the project and the client.  That seems very straight forward until other things creep onto the scene and somehow interrupt this process, for instance: 

• I really connect with the client, though  realize they have greatly under estimated construction costs and my fee.
• I realize the client is someone I have no respect for and therefore no desire to work with.
• I realize the project may be beyond my capabilities, though I’m eager to give it a whirl.
• (for women) I know my male counterparts may be charging twice as much, though I’m concerned with alienating my loyal clients by charging more.
• (for degree-less professionals) I have 12 years experience in my field, yet no paper to “prove” my worth.
• I like to think I have a conscience and natural desire to do what I believe is right for the environment and humankind, e.g. design homes that strive for sustainability including home structures for folks with limited means.
• I have a business to run and a family to support.

Needless to say, writing the proposal can be a daunting task.  Recently, our area is experiencing a shift in real estate sales and therefore labor costs, etc.  Once again I am rethinking what my fees are or will be in response to this shift.  Many clients have been late to pay, with a few not paying at all.  There have been a few remarks as to the rate being high or prices seem to have doubled.  Then there is always the blank stare response that says, “I had no idea it was going to cost that much.”  Of course there are the clients that don’t bat an eye and just roll with the program and are full of praises.

All of this brought me to where I am today.  Even in lean times, the universe has always provided for my family and I feel that I am a fair and equitable person with a healthy work ethic.  So, what if I decide to go against this economy that only values the GDP and work toward creating an economy that values people, relationships, the envionment and defineable products and services?  What if I only attract clients that I want to form a relationship with and I ask those clients to pay what they feel my services are worth to them?  What will happen?  I don’t know what’s going to happen but I had this overwhelming feeling to “put it out there”.  So, I did.  

Foolish?  Maybe.  De-valuing?  Maybe.  Risky?  Maybe.

Maybe another world will reveal itself to me.  I know one thing for certain, the anxiety of placing a price tag on my design capabilities has in this instance been removed and replaced with renewed enthusiasm for the project at hand.  I’ll keep you posted on how this approach plays out.  

It’s Easy Being Green

On Saturday, October 21, Peter and Susan Horn of Artisan and Janice Hatfield of Providence Builders, hosted a wonderfully informative seminar on living green.  Thanks to them I was able to participate and share some of my thoughts on passive solar heating and cooling, albeit I was extremely nervous and blurted that to my audience that was already painfully aware of said nervousness.  Ahhh, but that’s what the human element is all about.  There were some great eats supplied by Heart and Soul Healthy Catering and the atmosphere was fresh and calming as guests were invited to mingle with each other at the East of Eden Inn.  The actual seminar took place outside the Inn under a green canopy of giant oaks and magnolias.  Susan in her typical fashion made guests feel welcome and set the tone of the seminar with festive displays of native vegetation.  Peter supplied his usual humor and Janice, exuded positive energy which one couldn’t help being drawn too.  There were lots of great folks present that shared information on living green.  Following is a list of those that participated and their contribution.  One of our common goals is to help educate and unite individuals that seek to further the objectives of living sustainably as well as promote relocalization as a necessary corner stone of lessening our ecological footprint.

• Peter & Susan Horn of Artisan, building cool, creative & sustainable homes - 850.231.4604 
• Janice Hatfield of Providence Builders, specializing in green, aerated concrete and steel residential homes - 850.259.5395
• Kat McCrite, organic and permaculture deva - 850.835.1584
• Michelle Anderson, owner of Heart & Soul Healthy Catering
• Susan Horn - Wellness water filters, indoor air quality, green house cleaning & resources for green lifestyle - communitarian@earthlink.net
• Chris Robinson, executive regional vice president of Arbonne
• Janet Hardy of Caring Touch, massage & Reiki therapist - 850.231.9131
• Bridgette Lowe, yoga master - 850.231.2977
• J.B. Wiggins, Silva method instructor - jb@bentleywilliams.com
• Peter Horn on biodiesel fuels - communitarian@earthlink.net
• Chandra Hartman, residential designer, passive solar design in traditional architecture - www.cfhdesignstudio.com
• Florida Pest Control, green pest control - 850.243.7166
• Ray Ivy, storm preparedness & passive survivability - raivy@comcast.net 850.258.5905
• Carl Roberts, Eco$mart representative, green building materials - croberts@ecosmartinc.com
• Ladd Goodson, Freeport Steel & Framing, steel residential structures - www.freeportsteel.com 
• Bruce Johnson, eco-broker, green financial products - bruce@bluewaverealty.net
• Miriam Dillon, Grayton Coast Properties, green developments - 850.830.4753 

D’Iberville

So, here I find myself in D’Iberville, MS.  Yesterday I spent traveling down highway 90, pulling over at random streets to check out the neighborhoods.  It’s strange here and oddly familiar with the beautiful majestic oaks that have grown twisted from the storms.  The gulf is just a few yards away and to the North is the remnants of the devastation that was here a year ago.  Slabs and stairs that go no where mark the place of homes of yesterday or B.K. (Before Katrina) as I like to refer to that time.  Most everyone you talk to prefaces conversations with ”before the storm” or ”after the storm”.  That is the mark in time similar to a water line left from a storm.  In one breathe I’m asking myself ”what am I doing here?”, then the next I’m convincing myself with the mantra “this is good.”  Whatever.  I think it’s really just whatever I see and want it to be.  I could stay in Santa Rosa Beach and continue to make a go of it while the real estate market corrects itself or I could attempt to try something new, become a pioneer again, if you will.

That’s where I was 2 weeks ago, D’Iberville, a little town just North of Biloxi, which was also devastated by flood waters from Katrina.  When I set out to travel to MS that morning, a grey catbird flew into our sliding glass doors and died on my porch.  I immediately thought it was a sign not to go, that danger was ahead.  It was suppose to rain that day, it was a long drive and I had planned on camping.  Then as I was driving along I had another thought that the bird represented the death of something from which new life springs forth.  Anyhow, when I arrived in MS, I headed right to the state park in Gautier (pronounced go + shea, like shea butter) where I was informed that there was no camping because the whole park was now converted into a mini-village of tradespeople.  Ditto for all camping & RV parks nearby and the other state park in Waveland was erased from the map.  So, I went on to D’Iberville to meet my friends that had just bought an office building there and I camped in the office w/ their dog, Bailey, a beautiful Bernese moutain dog.  We spent that day and the day after looking at property, discussing possible building projects, and looking at the master plan for the city of D’Iberville.

I was basically mesmerized by this process of death and renewal and how the city repairs itself and new opportunity is born out of disaster.  The people that remain and call this city their home, seem to welcome outsiders and the resources they bring to help restore some sense of normalcy.  Certainly, the whole coast is still in flux of what to do and how to proceed and wondering if they even should.  When you’re living this close to sea level and this place is the only home you know, it’s not easy to just pick up the pieces and take root elsewhere in a foreign place.  The thought that keeps coming to mind is that this could be our (Walton County) reality very soon.  We can build stronger and more sustainably but will that even matter?  It’s almost like the subject has to be approached as something that’s temporary.  Build for survivability yet knowing full well that we don’t have a product that will keep mother nature out completely.  The fact is that modern technology has made living year round on the coast a possibility.  Prior to air conditioning, screening and hurricane warning systems, living on the gulf coast was typically reserved for people who made their living by the sea.  I for one recognize that as our resources begin to dwindle, this environment is not one I would choose to habitate year round in my present structure.

First, the DEP’s Blessing - House I

This is a post that actually goes along with an article written for Topsail-Island about the 3R’s - reduce, reuse, and recycle.  In the article I write about how the 3R’s also apply to our homes.  Simply stated: reduce living square footage, reuse your existing home, and build with recycled materials.  Over the next several months (however long construction lasts) I’m going to document the transformation of a few homes that are prime examples of the 3R’s put into action.    Exciting, right?

The first home is a residence on the beach.  This property has been in the family (not my family, if you’re wondering) for many years and has been passed down to the children.  Originally constructed in the 1980’s, this home has endured many storms and was fairly protected due to its modest size and location behind several dunes.  Over the years, the dunes have washed away and the gulf has crept a little closer.  During hurricane Ivan, beach erosion washed away the homes seaward facing porch, though no structural damage was done to the main house.  For the most part, the house has been rendered useless.  The owners, through much agonizing, have decided to keep the house intact and relocate it northward about 65′.  Since the storms, the DEP has relocated the CCCL closer to their northern property line essentially decreasing the square footage needed to build another home.  I know, you’re probably saying, “If I only had such problems.”

Back to the house.  The first step was to have updated CAD drawings of the existing structure drawn (me! me! pick me!).  Those drawings were then given to the structural engineer to redesign the piling and girder foundation.  In the meantime, geotechnical engineers stepped in to collect boring samples to determine the depth of the new pilings. A new topographic survey is ordered and all of this data is given to the structural engineer so he can work his magic.  He generates new drawings combining all of this information including the new building location, fill if needed, dune walkover location, piling depth and turtle lighting.  These drawings have been submitted to the DEP and now we wait for their approval and a permit.  That’s just the beginning.  We still need to get a county building permit, which can’t happen until we have the DEP permit.  The owners still need to settle on the piling company and a contractor that will pull the permits and rebuild the lost porch.  So that’s where we are on that house.  Patiently waiting.