Chapter 2 - Siting and design work

From the beginning of the project, it has been difficult to envision our completed Huf haus.  Our property in Clearville, PA has a old rustic lodge on it which has housed an office of the Western Pennsylvania Land Conservancy. 

The old house is located close to a man-made pond; it sits at the lowest elevation and is close to relatively dense woods.  We had initially thought the replacement house would sit at the same location.  However, because of the need to optimize south-facing exposure of our solar panels and the requirement to build in the minimal protection area, our home is sited about 100 yards away.  The old structure will need to be demolished; only one residence is permitted.

We only needed a single face-to-face meeting to approval our initial drawings.  We made only two changes in 2011 - the addition of a carport and the addition of a window panel on the front of the house.  The latter was an attempt to break up the fairly monotonous "non-solar" front of the house.

The most challenging aspect of the design work proved to be ensuring that all of the high tech energy features would fit in the Plant Room.  For a small home without a basement (2292 sq. ft.), it wasn't easy.  From the outset we also decided that we wouldn't quibble about bathroom fixtures, floor tile, kitchen cabinets or counter top materials.  All of those decision were made during my second trip to Hartenfels to review and sign our "fit-out protocol."  Huf Haus partners with StilART (http://www.stilart-moebel.com/en.html) to provide interior design for their homes.

 

The fit out was a two day marathon trip to make those decisions and also establish the location of every aspect of the layout including the doors/windows, electrical system and plumbing.  I returned to Hartenfels alone; Steve had a conflict.  I streamlined the process by explaining to our project manager that we wanted the interior to look like another model home in the Huf Village and by deferring to him regarding the location of all of the switches and outlets.  Using their computer simulated drawings, the kitchen and bathrooms should look something like this:

 

    

 

The house also has a very cool entrance way, part of the design for energy efficiency. 

 

More details about the high tech construction and energy features with my next post.