With our small lot (47’ x 100’) and seaside location, decks (and the entrance bridge) are an important component of the overall design and day-to-day livability and enjoyment of the home. In subsequent posts we will explore the elements that went into the final result that you see here, such as the decision to go with real wood rather than one of the many synthetic decking materials.
Taking a lunch break from installing bathroom lavatory sinks, I received this link from good friend Elayne Baskin; Berklee What the World Needs Now. Shelbie Rassler, a student at Berklee College of Music, put this together. She was inspired not only by the original Burt Bacharach and Hal David 1965 popular song but especially by the 2016 Broadway for Orlando version recorded to support the LBGTQ Central Florida community in the wake of the Pulse Night Club shooting; Broadway for Orlando What the World Needs Now
Avatar Studios; 2016 June 15
View to Beverly from Ann’s office; 2020 March 27
Looking north from Ann’s office; 2020 February 22
The first series of pictures is after insulation, veneer plaster, and painting. The second set is after the installation and finishing of the wood flooring.
Looking north-northeast from Ann’s office; 2020 February 22
Upper level hallway, looking north; 2020 February 22
Velux operable skylight over main stair; 2020 February 22
Main level, dining area, looking northeast; 2020 February 22
Main level, Kitchen area, looking northwest; 2020 February 22
Main level, dining area window, looking northeast; 2020 February 22
Main level, kitchen area window, looking northwesty; 2020 February 22
Main stair looking south; 2020 February 22
Upper level, Ann’s office, looking northeast; 2020 March 12
Upper level, hallway, looking north; 2020 March 12
Main level, dining area, looking northeast; 2020 March 12
The place to take care of business before indoor plumbing
Few things provide more pleasure and utility on a daily basis than modern plumbing. Think about the things you have to do every day and think about what doing them would have been like two centuries ago. Sleeping, not so different. Cooking, definitely different, but cooking over a fire or on a wood stove; not so bad. But taking care of business on the toilet; much improved. And bathing, much easier today and therefore much, much more frequent.
PEX supply piping in Ann’s shower
As an example of how far we’ve come, have a look at the rough supply plumbing shown above in the wall in Ann’s shower.
For those with some familiarity with piping materials, you may ask; Where is the nice soldered copper? As someone who enjoyed the craft of soldering copper, with its cleaning/fluxing/heating/soldering cadence, it is a valid question.
The answer is that the piping system shown of plastic PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) pipes connected with special fittings has shown over the last 20 years to be, in a number of parameters, superior to sweated (soldered) copper.
Better resistance to corrosion from minerals in the water. Minerals in hard water can corrode copper piping prematurely.
Flexibility and longer lengths give systems with fewer joints and less internal friction, resulting in better water pressure.
Safer to install since an open flame is not required.
Less expensive in both material costs and labor costs.
So what is going on with all those blue (and one red) pipes?
The six position selector can choose:
Rain shower only.
Regular shower only.
Rain shower and regular shower.
Rain shower and regular shower and body sprays
Rain shower and body sprays
Regular shower and body sprays
Why two shower heads for Ann? She really likes the feel of the overhead rain shower head but there are times when she needs to take a shower and not get her hair wet.
My shower is similar but different:
This is all certainly a first world solution to a first world problem; but it is a nice one to have.
Note the careful craftsmanship of the plumbing, even though it will be invisible once the walls are finished. Our initial selection of a plumber was the one with the lowest price. That selection proved to be a mistake; within the first hour of their work they drilled into structural members that shouldn’t have been drilled and then the next day installed drainage piping that did not meet the plumbing code. We parted ways unpleasantly and then sought recommendations for a plumbing company which shared the vision for our home and could and would produce the quality of work this home needs and deserves.
Following a recommendation, we contracted with JC Plumbing from Malden, MA. Master plumber Jim Kennedy wears three hats; principal at the firm, plumbing inspector for the town of Saugus, and plumbing apprentice instructor. Their team did great work.
Next post; Behind the walls: Building Systems 2, Using and heating water efficiently.
Not what we want.
What we got; nice work.
Looking north to Salem Neck and Beverly
The view out to Salem Neck and Beverly is one of the main attractions of our home at 40B Cloutmans Lane. While the yet-to-be-named multi-purpose room on the main floor is located at the opposite end of the house, we wanted it to share that view and its spirit and light. To do that, I designed a fully glazed large 36” wide door and large interior window.
The hypotenuse of the large triangular shaped window follows the slope of the stair. But there will be times when this yet-to-be-named room will require visual privacy. The typical way to provide that privacy would be with shades or blinds. That’s possible here but shades on a door are often problematic and providing a rectangular set of blinds or drapes over the window seemed to say You can do better.
Enter polymer dispersed liquid crystal glazing, one type of electrochromic glazing.
I successfully designed this type of glazing into a flagship classroom space at NKU’s Griffin Hall College of Informatics. The classroom faces the Commons and sometimes visual privacy is desired in the classroom.
Looking into Griffin Hall digital journalism classroom
Not looking into Griffin Hall digital journalism classroom
With the flip of a switch the glazing transforms from opaque to visible. Unlike at NKU, the glazing in the door will also incorporate the electrochromic glass. This requires special hinges that can be wired to transmit the power that switches the glass between visible and privacy modes. While both line voltage and low voltage glazing is available, we will be using low voltage for its inherent greater safety.
Controlling the privacy of the yet-to-be-named room by flipping or tapping a switch or tapping one’s smart phone is fun, flexible, and accessible.
This control of this glazing can be incorporated into a suite of functions that fall under the heading of a smart house. The new 40B Cloutmans will be a smart enough house. We’re still fine tuning how smart is smart enough.
Merry Christmas to all!
Next week; Behind the walls: Building Systems 1, Plumbing
Electric hinge.
Not smart enough, just right smarts, or too smart for its own good?
Both Ann and I are blessed with four generations alive and (considering all things) well. The age range is seven months (baby Hayden) to 94 (Tad). We wanted our new home to accommodate with ease and comfort and smiles the oldest and youngest and everybody in between.
My Dad, Tad, has stayed with us in the earlier incarnation of 40B a number of times. Given his limited mobility and the inherent dangers of negotiating a strange set of steps, we decided to have him camp in our living room on a full size bed we set up. That gave him single level access to a half bathroom, the kitchen, the dining area, the balance of the living room with its TV and weather station screen, and the main waterside deck. After his first visit, we took the bed apart and stored it away but after his next visit, we simply left it up, using the horizontal surface to fold laundry as it made is way from the basement to the upstairs bedrooms.
The main floor of our home was telling us something.
Ann and I just returned from seeing A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Fred Rogers would often say “I like you just the way you are.” I wanted to design a house that welcomed everyone just the way they are; both now and for the future.
When my Dad stayed with us he couldn’t take a shower, since the only shower was upstairs. So a fully accessible, roll in bathroom with shower was a must.
Note linear drain, high window, privacy glass in door, and no separate shower area. Not shown but will be there; grab bars and shower seat.
Most of the main level is an open space enveloping the kitchen, dining space, and living space. But the bed in our old living room reminded us that privacy, at times, is also important, especially for overnight guests. And it is both visual and acoustic privacy. So it was important to have a space where the doors could be shut. That meant a space with walls and doors.
South facing, a great morning space.
Guest bedroom? Den? Breakfast room? Home office? One of the foundational principles that underlay the design of 40B is spaces should have multiple personalities; changing hats and jackets and shoes as the guest list changes and the seasons advance.
With their at-least-a-queen sized bed, guest bedrooms work against multiple uses. One solution is a pull-out sleeper sofa. For those of us who have spent a good number of nights on one, the mattress-that-must-fold works against sleep comfort. The solution we chose is an old one, the Murphy bed. From Wikipedia;
The bed is named after William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1957), who applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain.
Murphy beds are having something of a renaissance with more adult children coming back to live with their parents and the increasing popularity of tiny homes of many stripes.
One example is my brother-in-law Kevin’s studios at 305 Commandants Way in Chelsea, MA.
Here’s the Murphy bed in the 40B to-be-named space:
Furniture in front of the Murphy bed will be on casters to make rearranging the space for sleeping easy.
What surprises there might be when the bed comes down . . .
Next week; Handicapped, Accessible, Universal 3, High tech help.
Coda to the Image of a Home; gabled homes and buildings in Mendocino, California
There are about 60 million people in the US with a disability. But that’s just a number. For most of us, disability is brought home by someone we love. When Ann’s Mom’s Alzheimers progressed, I sat down with her husband Stan and then designed and detailed some renovations to their seaside Seabrook, NH home. The goal was to make their home a place where Sitto could live safely surrounded by the place she knew and to be a home that facilitated the many-times-a-day care she needed. The addition of an elevator and the remodeling and expansion of the master bathroom to a fully accessible, roll in bathroom provided the physical reality that supported the loving care she received to the very end.
My Dad is 94 and lives in a two story, three bedroom suburban home in Easton, MD. His mobility is not good these days and he requires a walker to maneuver over the carpets and hard floors of his home. Like most American two story homes, the bedrooms and full baths are upstairs and the kitchen, dining, and living are downstairs. He absolutely could not continue to live there if it weren’t for the addition of a stair lift. Last year he once decided to not use the lift and walk downstairs. It resulted in a head-over-heels tumble to the bottom. Amazingly, at 93, he was only bruised and left that day on an out-of-town trip with his daughter-in-law Mary Ann.
Stairs are indeed dangerous. We tend to fear things like snakes and sharks and being hit by lightning. But the reality is, the stairs in our house are much more likely to do us in. Lightning kills about 60 people a year in the US. Falling down stairs kills perhaps 5,000 people a year with over a million injuries. On the other hand, climbing stairs is great exercise and multi-story homes with stairs provide comfortable zoning of functions, acoustical and visual privacy, and are essential to effectively using small lots such as our 5,000 sf 40B Cloutmans.
The old 40B Cloutmans, while only 1,500 SF, had a plethora of steps and stairs. Coming from the street and parking, you descended five steps to the front patio. Then it was two steps up to the front door. Then, once inside, a single step to the first floor. Neither convenient nor safe. Getting my Dad into the home with his walker when he visited was a challenge.
We could have connected walkway to the first floor with a ramp. But I don’t like ramps with their double handrails that shout “handicapped here”.
The solution was to raise the main floor of the new home 14”. This allowed the walkway from the street and parking to connect to the main level with a gently sloped bridge. Comfortable stroll or roll in ease for those in a wheelchair or when moving heavy objects.
None of us know what the future holds for our physical and mental abilities as we age. Our new home gently acknowledges that reality.
Next week; Handicapped, Accessible, Universal 2; flexible spaces for (perish the thought) one level living.
Old 40B Cloutmans model view of entrance steps
New 40B Cloutmans model view of entrance bridge
When you ask a child to draw a house, it almost always is a square or rectangle with a gabled roof, some windows, and an entrance door. The roof is often drawn with about a 45° (or 12:12) slope. The roof sheds water and protects those inside. The windows bring in light and offer a view to the world outside. The front door let’s the family and friends in and out. And the basic shape gives shelter and safety from a world that can be threatening.
Here is picture of the home at 40B as we purchased it three years ago:
When Ann and I first pulled into the driveway on our first viewing of this home for sale, I saw this and smiled. A happy feeling; a comfortable feeling, a cozy feeling. We bought this little house on the sea on the little lot that a kindergarten could have drawn.
When we decided to renovate/rebuild the non-conforming too-small lot required us to go before the Marblehead Zoning Board of Appeals. We could have torn the existing home down, but coastal zone rules would have required us to build the new home 3’ lower than the existing. That was problematic from a ceiling height standpoint and how the new home would look with its now taller immediate neighbors. If we retained two of the existing exterior walls, we were able to classify the work as renovation rather than new construction. So it came to be that the existing south wall with its peak and its 45° 12:12 roof would remain.
Ann always believed that when I finally arrived at the point in my life when we were blessed and I could design our own home; that it would be something dramatic and unique. For a seaside home, perhaps a home inspired by the image of a sail:
Vinta House by James Bao, Iligan Bay, Philippines
But my architecture has never been about flash and drama. In many ways, the kindergarten kid’s house was about right; functional, modest, efficient; saying to the world I’m a house, I’m happy to be a house, and I’m not pretending to be anything that I am not.
A nice benefit of the kindergarten’s kids image of a home is that it lubricated the approval of our request for a bigger home (a must for Ann) on our small, non-conforming lot (about 5,000 SF). Our special permit was approved unanimously, with no neighbor objections, and with no conditions attached.
South elevation of 40B as presented to the Zoning Board of Appeals
And here is the kindergarten’s kid house today, slowly moving to completion on a cold, rainy early December morning.
Simple of form. But with layers and depth of design to be discovered and explored.
Next: How accessibility, for now and the future, was an important driver of the new home’s design.
Snap Lock Standing Seam Roof on 40B
The standing seam metal roof on our home at 40B Cloutmans Lane is complete. We expect it to keep the elements out, in this seaside location, without any maintenance, for not only the rest of our generation but also for all of Adam’s and Luke’s and perhaps baby Hayden’s too.
What are the specifics of this roof?
Material: Aluminum was chosen for the substrate for its resistance to corrosion and reasonable cost. Titanium, copper, zinc, and stainless steel all make for wonderful roofs and all are expensive to prohibitively expensive. Galvanized steel is a cost effective option but lacks, in this seaside location, the resistance to corrosion that is necessary insure a long life.
Finish: A bare aluminum roof will oxidize to a dull gray and, even in this salt air laden location, perform well. We know first hand; our trusty 21’ cuddy cabin boat, Thumper, having completed 17 seasons, is bare aluminum. But we wanted a jauntier look.
Thumper on Lake Winnipesaukee
The finish for the aluminum coil stock (sheet aluminum that is produced in long rolls) that the roof is made from is a high performance architectural 70% polyvinylidene fluoride coating (PVDF). It is recognized as the best finish for exterior metal coating and is used world-wide on institutional and high-rise buildings. Polyvinylidene fluoride is popularly known by its original trade name Kynar – it is a fluoropolymer (PVDF or PVD2), a family that also includes Teflon and Halar. The key to this resin is the bond created between carbon and fluorine, the strongest possible polymeric connection. Years of testing demonstrate that PVDF is most durable when it makes up 70% of the overall coating.
Design: The primary design elements of a standing seam roof are the characteristics of the seams and the spacing of the seams. A 1 1/2” high snap lock seam was chosen with spacing of 15”. The snap lock system tends to remain straighter than a crimped standing seam and the narrow 15” spacing is proportional for this small home and minimizes the possibility of oil canning, the warping of the flat surface of the metal roof.
Color: In a sea of grays and beiges, Ann and I wanted something more colorful, friendlier, more likely to bring a smile to one’s face when you come upon the house by land or sea. In forest settings, forest green is a popular color for standing seam roofs. We chose a color that picks up the blue of both the sky and the sea.
View from Naugus Head
Next post; the image of a home.
Hildesheim Cathedral in 1900. Hildesheim, Germany
The standing seam metal roof on the Hidesheim Cathedral was installed in 1280 and kept the rain and snow out for almost seven centuries until it was destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII. It has since been restored and is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
A standing seam metal roof utilizes the inherent waterproofness and longevity of long sheets of sheet metal that are formed by a machine into a flat U that channels water seamlessly from the ridge of the roof to the roof eave. It is attached at the seams by clips that are screwed to the underlying roof structure.
Snap seam standing metal roof
Why spend the substantial premium over the cost of an asphalt shingled roof?
Longevity: A properly specified and installed standing seam roof is a multi-generation roof with no maintenance.
Performance: The continuous nature of the metal panels largely eliminates the possibility of ice damming and the attachment of the roof at the standing seams can be engineered to successfulluy withstand category 3 or higher hurricane force winds.
Sustainability: The combination of longevity and the incorporation of a very high percentage of recycled material has a very low environmental impact and very low carbon footprint.
Aesthetics:: In addition to natural, uncoated metal roofs such as zinc, copper, and stainless steel, coated steel and aluminium roofs tan be finished in any color and with a wide variety of finishes such as metallics and color changing coatings. The crisp architectural lines of the standing seams are timeless and work well with both traditional, transitional, and modern homes.
Traditional home in Concord, MA with standing seam metal roof.
This week we will document the installation of the standing seam metal roof on 40B Cloutmans and discuss the specifics of the materials, finishes, design, and color of our roof.
North elevation viewed from the seaside rocks during mid-tide; 2019 September 27
The exterior of a home is simply made of two elements; walls and roofs. In the US, the asphalt shingled roof has become ubiquitous. Here is a typical asphalt shingled roof at middle age:.
Asphalt shingled roofs, particularly in a vulnerable seaside location, are crappy roofs, even if they are America’s standard. They don’t last very long (typically about 15 years), they accumulate algae and stains, and they are made of many individual shingles that can get blown off in serious storms and are vulnerable to ice dams in the winter. But they are inexpensive, and many companies will install them, sometimes in as little as half a day.
On our 40B home, we are installing a standing seam metal roof. This is a whole different kettle of fish. Today the installation of our standing seam roof began. Getting to this day has been a long, winding road. But we won’t go down that road tomorrow. Rather, why standing seam roofs are great roofs.
