A woodstove from Osburn helps heat the living area, but passive solar gain from a wall of southeast-facing windows means it’s rarely a necessity. The outdoor furniture is from the Modern by Dwell Magazine collection, a collaboration with Target from 2016.
There are three base models and eight variations of Collective Home prefabs, and clients are welcome to slightly modify them to suit their needs.
The family home that residents Tyler Lepore, Lisa Giroday, builders Hanson Land & Sea, and September Architecture devised in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, is wrapped with cedar and brick, tying to its wooded surround, which is only a four-minute walk to the ocean. "The house feels like it's part of the setting,
The kitchen cabinets were made with cabinet boxes set into framing, then a primed drywall shell covered with a textural Roman Clay finish, and sealed.
While the owners really liked the idea of shou sugi ban, they opted for a more cost-effective black stain. The random-width, reverse board-and-batten siding reflects the wabi-sabi concept. “The builder said the math for the random siding was torturous,” the wife said. “We didn’t know how hard it was to make things look simple.” DeNiord planted hay-scented fern and lowbush blueberry sod around the house. “We didn't want any side of the house to feel unconsidered,” he says. As for the local boulders he placed around the house and terrace, he says, “They give the feeling that the house grew up around the outcroppings.”
Architect Robert Swinburne deploys a collaborative building approach and hyperlocal materials to craft a Passive House–certified home that celebrates the land it’s built on.
As a former librarian and true book lover, Williams liked the idea of storing her books in the living room. "At first, the built-in shelving we designed was more open, but the exposed books created too much visual clutter, so we added cabinet doors and kept a few open shelves to house a rotating display of our client's collection of quirky and artful artifacts," says Eng-Goetz.
Guta Louro says, "I let my space speak for me and allow others to interpret it as they desire, and the empty spaces and the thought-out placement of the pieces (I believe) says a lot about me."