Dining Room


Living Room

Very Green and Very Affordable

Eric designed and built this home in Sebastopol, California. It is featured in the book Good Green Homes for its beauty, compact floor plan, energy efficiency, and affordability.

Passive solar design keeps the home comfortable most months of the year. On sunny winter days the home requires no additional heating and the radiant heated floors make sure the house is warm even during the coldest of times.

Most of the material and cost savings came from designing a smaller home. Two stories offered the greatest space for the least material and cost. The 880sf first floor was designed to allow single floor living, and the 520sf upstairs was designed for a later division into additional bedrooms.

The bathroom design was influenced by Japanese homes where the toilet and sink are often separated from the bathing area. Adjacent to the open shower is a soaking tub with a view onto a private garden.

Recycled content materials were used for the siding and roof and salvaged doors and a bathroom sink were used in the interior. Construction waste was kept to an absolute minimum. Good craftsmanship and durable materials were used through out for beauty, longevity and low maintenance.

Photos are courtesy of Linda Svendsen.