Some aspects of a home that is just right for you are personal.
Homey personal elements can be symbols of places from your past- perhaps a childhood bedroom that was a sanctuary, a favorite collection of books, a photo of the front porch of your grandmas house, fabric from the first crazily painted freedom space of your young adulthood or a postcard evoking the shadowy memory of a glimpse of a perfect room in your travels.
“Efficient house design is based on the natural energies coming into the system (sun, wind,rain) on surrounding vegetation, and on commonsense building practices.” Bill Mollison
South Elevation
The use of intelligent design to reduce the amount of energy required to operate a home can substantially lower the environmental impact and the long term cost to the owners. Continue reading
“Go to the winter woods: Listen there. Look, watch, and the quiet months will give you a subtler secret than any you have yet found in the forest. “~ Fiona Macleod
Every year as it gets darker, I resist winter. I fret about slippery roads and expensive snow tires. I grumble about the extra time that it takes to scrape ice off the windshield and the squeeze of bulky clothes. I mourn the bright summer sun and my beloved garden.
Then, it snows. Continue reading
” Nesting, homemaking is a major means of personal expression and development.” James Yandell, former president C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco 
We’ve seen it happen a hundred times. Continue reading
To introduce this project to a home design magazine, I wrote the following synopsis;
Welcome to our home! It’s the first ENERGY STAR Qualified home in B.C., which means that it uses 30% less energy to function as the incredibly comfortable living space that it is. This represents a savings of approximately 3 months of energy bills. The home has a passive solar design, 10” thick walls, Continue reading
“When you build a home, it’s not just the human beings who gain shelter.”
A few years ago, I participated in a Permaculture Design Certification course. Continue reading
I had a conversation recently with a friend. We were talking about what it’s like to live in a round house. “How is it different”, she asked curiously, “than living in a traditionally shaped home?”
Well, let me count the ways……I feel held by the container of this space, gently. It’s like a womb, like a hug from a home; it’s a safe and inspiring place to be creative in. It feels like there are no corners for “bad energy” to get trapped. I experience a profound sense of peace and harmony in this home.
“The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s backyard.” Abram Maslow
T.C. Mcluhan writes “Human beings all around the world and all through time have used sacred spaces in order to find themselves.” This brings to my mind the line from the song Amazing Grace, ”I once was lost and now I’m found.” Continue reading
”I awoke/this morning/in the gold light/turning this way/and that/thinking for/a moment/it was one/day/like any other./ But/the veil had gone/from my/darkened heart. ” David Whyte
A dream has come true, this home is the first ENERGY STAR Qualified home in BC!
We’re very excited because Continue reading