Freja House

Freja, the young daughter of Emma and Blake, perfectly embodies the fusion of her parents’ backgrounds: her mother’s Swedish blonde hair and her father’s love for the outdoors. When the family relocated from Seattle to Whitefish, Montana they tasked Love Schack Architecture with designing a home that harmonizes these influences. The result is Freja House—a Scandinavian-inspired custom home and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that prioritizes energy efficiency, functional interior space, and thoughtful indoor-outdoor living.

Blake, a mechanical engineer specializing in energy efficiency, envisioned a high-performance home that would serve as both a base for outdoor adventures and a lesson in sustainable living for Freja. The project team aimed for Passive House certification but recognized full certification would be challenging given site limitations. The home’s long north-south orientation makes passive heating in winter difficult, while extensive western exposure increases cooling demands in summer. Despite these obstacles, Love Schack Architecture’s design meets Passive House standards for air tightness and insulation. The home’s average monthly energy costs are just $100, covering heating, an electric sauna, EV charging, and ADU energy use.

Emma, originally from Sweden, influenced the home’s design with clean lines and cabinetry replacing traditional closets. A hidden sauna, accessed through the shower, nods to Swedish traditions and forward-thinking design. Its ventilation system connects to an adjacent mechanical closet, where a heat pump water heater repurposes the sauna’s wasted heat to warm the home’s domestic hot water. The heat pump also cools the mechanical closet, creating a symbiotic design solution.

Emma and Blake both work from home and desired a minimalist interior with two dedicated offices and excellent indoor air quality. To achieve this, Love Schack integrated an energy recovery ventilation (ERV) system. The family also envisioned seamless indoor-outdoor living during the summer months. A 16-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall sliding glass door connects the open living and kitchen area to the patio, garden, and backyard, where an outdoor fireplace offers a cozy winter gathering spot. This fireplace balances Emma’s desire for a hearth and Blake’s preference for a combustion-free home.

The exterior of Freja House reflects Scandinavian influences as well, with simple forms, a gable roof, and wood-clad prefabricated panels treated with järnvitriol, a Swedish iron sulfate technique that gives a weathered look. The panels create a highly insulated and airtight envelope with minimal onsite construction. The house maintains a simple rectangular footprint, but the eastern side of the roof is skewed forward to enhance mountain views and maximize outdoor living space, avoiding unnecessary overhangs and giving the home a distinctive personality.

The ADU, situated atop the garage, features a private entrance but can easily connect to the main living space if needed. This versatile program offers flexibility for additional income, accommodating family members, or expanding the primary home.

Emma and Blake chose Love Schack Architecture for their expertise in Passive House design and deep understanding of the local climate’s best practices for building. With the completion of Freja House, the family enjoys biking to mountain trails and cross-country skiing before work, knowing they’ll return to a home that stays warm in winter and cool in summer. Freja House represents the blend of Scandinavian heritage and energy-efficient design, providing a welcoming space for family life while minimizing its environmental impact.