Houzz Tour: California Cabin Ditches the Power Grid
Solar energy powers a modern, expandable vacation house among the trees for a family with two children
Vanessa Brunner
July 12, 2012
Houzz Contributor
Welcome to an experiment in off-the-grid living in the Northern California forest. Its owners, a family with two kids, see it as a first step toward living full-time in a house that produces all of its own energy.
David Arkin and his team at Arkin Tilt Architects designed an essential core building at an elevation of 4,000 square feet that could be expanded later. Mounted solar panels, a solar heating system, concrete flooring and straw-bale walls give it the ability to produce and maintain its own energy all year.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A weekend and vacation home for a couple and two young sons
Location: East of Nevada City, California
Size: 872 square feet; 1 sleeping loft, 1 bathroom
David Arkin and his team at Arkin Tilt Architects designed an essential core building at an elevation of 4,000 square feet that could be expanded later. Mounted solar panels, a solar heating system, concrete flooring and straw-bale walls give it the ability to produce and maintain its own energy all year.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A weekend and vacation home for a couple and two young sons
Location: East of Nevada City, California
Size: 872 square feet; 1 sleeping loft, 1 bathroom
Keeping the home small and under budget were the team's biggest priorities. Since it was designed to be a part-time residence, material selection was kept to a minimum. Construction was based around simple and durable materials, such as the home's metal roof and concrete floors. Salvaged wood siding was used for part of the exterior, while the panels between the windows and the exterior of the raised bathroom and entry area are made from cement fiberboard that's stained to look like wood.
The design process began with understanding the environment and coming up with strategies to heat, cool and protect the house. One of the home's more innovative materials is the use of PISE (pneumatically impacted stabilized earth) cement, filled with rice straw bales for a durable and health- and environment-friendly structure.
Glycol solution, which prevents freezing, is pumped through solar hot water panels and into a heat exchanger in a domestic hot water tank and then on into a sand bed under the concrete floors to warm the house. Electricity is provided through a roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) panel system.
The roof eave is extended to shade the house in the summer, and block rain and snow from hitting the walls in the winter. The eave itself is relatively thin despite the thick structural insulated panels (SIPs) used for roof insulation. Arkin and his team worked carefully to extend the SIP spines so they could support the 4-foot overhang.
The roof eave is extended to shade the house in the summer, and block rain and snow from hitting the walls in the winter. The eave itself is relatively thin despite the thick structural insulated panels (SIPs) used for roof insulation. Arkin and his team worked carefully to extend the SIP spines so they could support the 4-foot overhang.
Since this home is currently a part-time residence, it's important that it can withstand extended periods without maintenance. The solar heating system disperses heat into the deep sand bed beneath the floors to keep the pipes from freezing.
The living room is tucked into the hillside, a half level lower than the entry and bathroom. A built-in sleeping platform temporarily eliminates the need for another sleeping space.
The lot slopes gently toward the south, so part of the living room wall retains about 4 feet of earth. An insulated framed wall inside the concrete retaining wall supports the wider straw bales set above the hillside. Some of this framing was left exposed and doubles as a bookshelf.
The sleeping loft — the only private sleeping space — sits above the kitchen. The base of the loft (and kitchen ceiling) is made of terra mai, a salvaged wood product from Asia. The ceiling panels are made of knotty pine plywood throughout the rest of the house. Water-based sealers were used on the interior woodwork.
The family members did a lot of the finishing decision making on their own — primarily in the kitchen. Most of the interior materials are either prefinished or not finished at all to better the interior air quality. The PISE wall finish has a light grout wash but no other sealer, and the floor is polished concrete.
The smaller portion of the cabin is oriented toward the south for the roof's solar panels. This section has an entry, a mudroom and a bathroom.
The larger portion of the cabin steps down from the entryway into a great room with large windows that open up to maximize passive solar gain.
Photography by Eric Millette
The larger portion of the cabin steps down from the entryway into a great room with large windows that open up to maximize passive solar gain.
Photography by Eric Millette
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Well done! A lot of thought went into energy and interior air quality concerns, but the article does not mention the attention clearly given to another environmental consideration: wildfires. Ample clearance around the structure, metal roof, and minimal use of wood on the exterior all contribute to fire resistance in a region increasingly hot, dry, and prone seasonal fires.