On the North Fork of Long Island, architect Wayne Turett is running something of a design laboratory, which also happens to be his family retreat. “This house is really a testing ground that allows me to try things before I actually present them to clients,” says Wayne, who’s the founder and principal of his self-named New York City firm. After working on so many sustainable and energy-efficient designs, Wayne decided he’d experiment with creating his own passive house.

The architect started with some key principles to earn certification. At 2,400 square feet, the three-bed, three-bath home uses tightly sealed triple-glazed windows to optimize insulation and air tightness. Using an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV) was critical to deliver fresh, filtered air to the home’s interiors around the clock. These moves paid off bigger than Wayne expected. “Energy usage has been surprisingly minimal,” he says, adding that his energy bills are three to four times lower than his residence back in the city.

$9,500 Permits & Insurance	$8,500 Earthwork	$10,000 Utilities
$30,000 Foundation	$106,000 Carpentry	$53,000 Framing Materials
$44,000 Siding Materials & Installation	$32,000 Insulation Materials & Installation	$23,000 Drywall
$55,000 Windows & Skylights	$14,500 Doors	$28,800 Floor Materials & Installation
$45,000 Roofing	$4,600 Exterior Railing	$38,500 Mechanical, Water Heater, Heat Pump, and ERV
$36,000 Plumbing & Fixtures	$38,000 Electrical	$6,000 Appliances
$15,000 Kitchen Cabinets	$20,000 Painting	$12,000 Tile & Installation
$3,300 Hardware	$12,000 Fencing & Driveway	$50,000 Landscaping
$7,000 Shed	$3,500 Dry Well
Grand Total: $705,200

Because the site is in Greenport’s historic district, designing the home was about striking a balance between the community’s traditional aesthetic and the clean, contemporary style Wayne’s firm is known for. So Turett took those aesthetics and stripped them down to his liking for a more modern look. This is reflected in elements like the painted-aluminum standing-seam roof, which lacks an overhang and instead aligns with the home’s siding.

The home’s windows don’t have any trim. Rather, they’re recessed into the siding, adding to Wayne’s minimalist aesthetic. " layout="wide" credit="Photo by Liz Glasgow" photoUserId=""/>

In another departure from convention, the interiors are strategically arranged “upside down” with the bedrooms below and the living spaces above. “When I was designing,” says Wayne, “my wife had one directive—a lot of light. So that’s why there’s a lot of glass, which gives us good views from the living spaces.”

The house captures ample natural light as it overlooks Stirling Basin, an inlet from Gardiners Bay. The white walls and interior heart-pine flooring, with its oil finish and white pigment, add even more brightness to the space.

“My philosophy with passive house design is that it’s better to do something than nothing.”
—Wayne Turett, architect and resident

The kitchen is often said to be the heart of the home and this one is no exception. The architect and his family often congregate in their all-electric kitchen, which was purchased off a showroom floor from the Italian company Valcucine. “What’s interesting is that it’s really just a kit of parts,” says Turett. “It all comes apart, so I was able to reconfigure it.”

Things got even more experimental with some of the bells and whistles, like smart-home tech gadgetry. “I have all sorts of gadgets on Wi-Fi, like lighting, shades, heating, and door locks,” says Wayne. “Some of these things work well and some don’t.”

Though the house was originally built as a weekend home, Wayne and his family have been spending more and more time here since the start of the pandemic. They’re slowly filling the space with items they love, like a dining table Wayne designed using wood that his daughter milled from a fallen spruce tree.

Ultimately, Wayne views the home as a successful experiment, and one that continues to teach him about the benefits of passive house design. “Even if someone doesn’t want to do the full passive house package, my philosophy is it’s better to do something than nothing.”

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A Portland Home Packs an Off-Grid Punch for $820K

An Architect Couple Build a Net-Zero Home and Studio for $250 Per Square Foot

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: The Turett Collaborative / @turettcollaborative

Builder / General Contractor: Vector East LTD / Jared Loveless

Structural Engineer: Petracca Design and Engineering

Landscape Design: Office of Living Things / @officeoflivingthings

Lighting Design: PHT Lighting Design / @phtlighting

Interior Design: The Turett Collaborative

Mechanical Design: Zero Energy Design

Photographer: Liz Glasgow / @lizandhilda