“So many houses seem like they’re completely still and heavy,” says Dencity architect Staffan Svenson. Inspired by his client’s role in the airline industry, Svenson relished the chance to create a home that evokes motion and lightness.
At over 500 square feet, the house’s green roof may be its most powerful—and most expensive—environmental statement. It cost $8,000 to waterproof, and $7,000 to landscape. Water from the roof feeds the toilet and the garden’s watering system, and the garden itself insulates the house and keeps gas bills low in winter. Photo by Nic Granleese.
The house is divided in two: on the left, the main house consists of an expansive kitchen, living, and dining space, plus sleeping accommodations. On the right, a smaller structure holds a sauna, shower, and ski wax room. The house’s length is oriented along an east/west axis to maximize strong southern light and provide views of an aspen grove.
The house is set in a privately owned nature preserve halfway between Charleston and Savannah, on an isthmus between a marsh and a pond. "It's a cool site, very exotic," says architect James Choate. "It feels like a wildlife sanctuary." The resident, a man who works in commercial real estate, wanted a big space with glass walls to "honor the views."
One of the main goals of the construction was to do as little harm as possible to the existing environment, which includes waterways that salmon depend upon. Herrin and his team created a garden roof that covers the full extent of the home to meet this objective. “This helps control storm water runoff and also replaces lost insect habitat—insects being a critical food source for juvenile salmon,” he says.
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