This 1,900 s.f. accessible passive solar home features a walkout basement, family room, guest suite, exercise room, and root cellar. Heating systems include a centrally located masonry heater with a bakeoven and heated bench, and a 400 s.f. solar hydronic flat plate collector with an insulated 1,200 gallon storage tank. The solar thermal system will provide almost all of the domestic hot water and more than half of the space heating required by this home. Back-up heat is provided by a modulating boiler fueled with propane and integrated with the solar heating system for in-floor radiant heat. Thin slab concrete sub-floors and thin-coat plaster add mass for year-round comfort. The home will be wired for a planned 2.8 kW grid-tied photovoltaic electric system on a dual-axis tracker, which should provide about 70% of the electricity consumed.
The exterior has a steel roof, fiber cement board siding, and Wisconsin sandstone on the lower level.
The kitchen side of the heater, with bake oven.
The masonry heater made of Wisconsin sandstone.
Gimme Shelter designed and built the dining nook table and bench. The base is stainless steel; the top is Cambria quartz and cherry wood; the benches are oak. An integrated plugstrip for laptop computers makes cord management a breeze.
Opening up the wall above the stairwell and oak bookshelf lets daylight filter to the lower level.
View from the living room to front entry. Walls and ceilings are thincoat plaster. Custom-made light fixtures by the Gimme crew.
Oak staircase with a finely crafted first tread that is curved.