Here are the rough plans and elevations of the house as it stands, as of August 2020. There have been a few tweaks here or there, but this gives the ideas present in the house.

Here are the external views of the house. The west view faces the road which is a winding dirt road that cuts in from a bigger road that is scaling a large mountain verge into what is known as “the Hollow” in Stowe. Our road then winds down past apple trees and dense forested areas to a bridge that crosses a gorgeous creek. The road is, for the most part, silent except for an occasional tractor or chainsaw and the rare car.

The cladding on the house will be a standing seam roof, black corrugated steel on the sides and then, on the porches and in the breezeway, either shou sugi ban white cedar or dark stained white cedar. The screened porch on the north will be cedar as well.

The house is going to be passive or near passive. This means the house will be mostly heated by solar gain from the large south-facing windows and will store that heat for very long periods due to an immense amount of insulation and air-tight construction methods. Solar panels mounted on the roof will provide enough energy for all of the daily needs of the house year-round. There will be an air circulation system that will pre-heat air in the winter and pre-cool air in the summer to reduce energy needs. We will have some heat pump casettes and a fireplace for additional heating needs on those really frigid sub-zero days. It is approximately 2450 square feet in size. It sits on a plot of land that is a little under 14 acres.