The exposed rafters were carried into the exterior areas, including the covered patio.
For those who can’t snag accommodations at the Willows Inn, Lummi Island’s star attraction that now has COVID-19 hygiene protocols in place, this whitewashed dwelling a short walk from Sunset Beach—and the inn’s must-dine-at restaurant—is a fine substitute. Hang out by the propane gas fireplace in the sunken living area, cook on the Bertazzoni range, or take a book up to the loft for a spell. Salish Sea and Orcas Island vistas can be reveled in through the wall of sliding glass doors and from the commodious deck.
The light near the roof deck is by Roll & Hill
Boora Architects designed a house for Ryan and Mary Finley near Cannon Beach, Oregon, that resembles a glass prism and rises above a shallow cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The 3,330-square-foot structure is topped with a green roof.
Loader Monteith tends to have a "fabric-first" approach to sustainability. Any work happening on the roof or walls received a thick coat of insulation, and all glass is triple-glazed. "It’s like the house has a warm hat and jacket and a dry pair of Welly boots," says Loader. "Once you’ve done a lot of the hard work, you can make the heating system as small as possible." Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof collect energy throughout the day.
The owner was motivated to build his own home to avoid a mortgage and to gain the know-how to undertake his own maintenance and repairs. “I was craving the personal challenge to cultivate a home for myself,” he says. “As it was the beginning of a new adventure, I wanted it to be personal. Also, practically speaking, if I built each piece of the home by hand, I would have a good sense of how to solve problems or improve it, without having to ask anyone else to journey through the forest, down the trail, and up the cliff to make an adjustment.”
“The home is quite small, but designed in such a way that you don’t feel it,” Herrin says. Lift-slide openings by Quantum Windows & Doors, which were fabricated fewer than 50 miles from the house, make the main living space seem larger.
Completed in 2018 on a 2.6-acre site in the San Juan Islands, the two-bedroom modular home was installed in a day.
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.
At a 1954 midcentury home in the West hills of Portland, Penny Black Interiors deftly updated the residence with standout cabinetry, carefully-selected tile, and wallpaper galore. The renovation balanced preserving the home's innate character and updating its function for modern life.
On the main floor, custom sliders by Oakridge Windows & Doors open to a table and chairs designed by Paquette and built by Conrad Contracting. The wood paneling on the walls was salvaged from the original structure and resawn; each piece was scuffed with fine sandpaper and coated with Projectol.
"We were interested in this idea of treading lightly on the site. Using a green roof is a logical extension of that. When you introduce a building that supplants a little piece of the forest floor, it's nice to replicate that on the roof as a return gesture to continue to create habitat for birds, animals, and plants, and to help manage the flow of storm water," explains McFarlane.