A wood-lined outdoor shower adds a modern touch to one of the decks.
“We have been tracking the development of LED for some time, but we had not found a product that showed the art to its best effect at an affordable price,” says Chief Operating Officer of the Art Institute of Chicago David Thurm. “Ketra now makes it possible for us to shift to LEDs. We were impressed by the quality of the light and the ability of the LED to self-correct to avoid a degradation of quality over time. Economically, it also makes a difference that we can use our existing fixtures without modification.”
Renovating the old mill was a family effort, and Blee called on his sister Kate, a textile designer based in London, to lend a helping hand with the tile work. Kate's repertoire also extends to building installations, including a ceramic wall in the City and Islington Center for Lifelong Learning in North London. "She had several boxes left over," Blee recalls, "which meant another opportunity to use something that was lying around." The tiles, with finishes ranging from heavy glazes to matte coats, offered textural variety, which brother and sister used to "play around with the idea of reflection from the roof light."
A bright yellow and gray textile tile by Jordaan.
The Zebra textile tile by Jordaan.
In the dining room, which opens to the backyard terrace, original tilework on the floors and walls complement decidedly modern counterparts—an original 1938 Butterfly chair
by Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan, and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, and a 1983 TMC floor lamp by Spanish designer Miguel Milá.
Carla Daalderop-Bruggeman, I Am the True Vine, 1959, Prince Willem Alexander School, Tiel.
Washed Concrete, concrete where the paste is washed away and the aggregate are exposed.
Pasaia shower by Fermob, $1,727 The attenuated silhouette of this stand-alone outdoor shower—made of powder-coated aluminum with PVC slats—looks European, but it has been adapted to meet American plumbing standards.
Two-year-old Annika and five-year-old Soren make music on the "nap swing," a popular hangout spot for kids and adults alike.
Hollis designed the custom outdoor bed, which is suspended by ropes. "We hope that visitors come away relaxed and refreshed and have the feeling they had the one-of-kind experience of the valley," she says.
The Whole Home Energy Boost Box.
Two layers of aluminum woven-coil drapes hang outside the large, south-facing windows above the living area.
A guest bedroom, with furniture from Room & Board, overlooks the bridge above the dining courtyard. The home’s landscape architecture is by Ventura, California–based Jack Kiesel. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
Cubicco’s prefab houses, like the Cabana Beach model, are built with laminated veneer lumber, an engineered material that uses up to 90 percent of a tree—compared to typical wood timbers that use only 60 to 70 percent. Modules can be disassembled if the owners relocate.
