This is where the rubber meets the road, and we get to illustrate that we practice what we preach: High style and enhanced comfort, combined with energy efficiency and sustainable self-sufficiency, along with highly secure and defensible space. It also allows us to show that all of this is possible, at least to a limited degree, with a smaller budget like ours. Of course, architects and designers are at times accused of poor stewardship of their client’s money, or imposing their own tastes and aesthetic desires onto a client. So here we can illustrate what our tastes are, and what level of style, energy efficiency, sustainability, and security can be achieved with a very limited budget.

While many people think that it would be wonderfully easy, even liberating, to design one’s own home--most people intuitively understand that it is also the most difficult project. Of course there is rarely, if ever, the budget levels that are available to our clients. In addition, creativity can be as much of a curse as it is a blessing, and of course when you spend all day every day creating options and solutions for clients—there is a risk to becoming overwhelmed with so many great “ideas”.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the best way to narrow down the possibilities is through the same restrictions and constraints that any other client or any other project has to contend with—primarily, the budget. Most decisions made with regards to our home and its renovation were budget related. Of course it helped tremendously that the existing home had good bones and was structurally sound, as well as retained many inherent and charming details. This was part of the reason we bought it. As such, we didn’t have to spend time and money creating charm, character, and curb appeal. The improvements and upgrades that we did, however, were geared towards basic habitability and energy efficiency, while still maximizing style, and were largely based on cost (up-front, operating, and life-cycle).

This is our first home, and could be our last. It is a Gothic Revival Cottage, circa 1870s to 1880s, around 1600 sq. ft, and is as exasperating as it is full of character. We loved the steep roof-lines and the arched windows, as well as the high ceilings and big bay window in the office. The 1600 sq. ft. was ample for us and our current stage in life, it sounded much easier to heat and cool than the 6000 sq. ft. 2nd Empire behemoth that we almost bought. The all-masonry construction emanated a solidity that appealed to us, as did its lower maintenance requirements. The kitchen was small, but the post and beam barn out back was big enough to overcome any hesitation. It is right in the heart of “town”, and we love both the energy and excitement of urban living, as well as the easy access to everything. We can walk to the post office, the drug store, to several dining establishments, and even to City Hall. Having a large outbuilding such as a barn in such an urban environment is a rarity indeed, and one that we do not take for granted.

The house had been unoccupied for about 8 years, and as such required a lot. The home was emptied, but not gutted down to the shell. All mechanicals, plumbing, and electric were updated, plaster was repaired, and 1st level floors were refinished. The kitchen even received a cork floor, and is very forgiving on both dropped dishes as well as tired feet. The bathrooms were fairly extensively reworked, as was the kitchen, as much as the limited budget allowed. The trim was already painted, and because it was both time and cost prohibitive to strip all of the trim, it was an easy decision to re-paint the trim a high-gloss white. All paints and floor finishes were water-based, and low to no-VOC.

Because we purchased the house shortly before our wedding, many decisions were made out of expediency as well as budget, with the intent to come back later and revise when time and budget allowed. For example, the kitchen cabinets costs less than $2000 and are from IKEA, because the long term goal is to construct a new kitchen|great room addition to the rear of the home, and it didn’t make sense to spend unnecessarily on a relatively short-term solution.

We were able to achieve a lot of style at little cost with paint, because of the character and charm that is inherent to the house. What is not inherent to the house, or to most old houses, is energy efficiency and conditioned comfort. Many decisions made were without the benefit of living in the house for a period of time to better understand what its strengths and weakness were. For example, it appeared to be a good decision to install a two-stage, 95% efficient gas furnace, and it was—in part. We didn’t realize how under-supplied the home was at the time, however, and with each room having only one HVAC supply to it—there were hot spots and cold spots, and uneven temperature distribution. It would have been better to spend a little more money to improve the ducting while the furnace was being replaced, and to have a more comfortable home.

As is evident in the photographs, the home is all brick, including most of the interior walls, and as such has no insulation in the exterior walls. In addition, the rafters are only 4” deep, so because it is a story and ½ and without a full attic, there are portions of the roof that have only 3” of blown in cellulose insulation. In retrospect, we should have taken the lathe and plaster off of the 2nd floor ceiling and insulated from underneath, but at the time, we didn’t feel like we had that option. Instead, we attached rigid foam board insulation (R-10) to the underside of the existing ceiling, and then insulated the attic knee-walls and what little we could in the attic above the 2nd floor ceiling with formaldehyde free batt-insulation. This has helped to reduce the loss of heat in the winter, and along with ceiling fans in each room, has helped to reduce the need for cooling in the summer. Our heating costs have been cut in half, and we currently run the a/c for 3-4 weeks a year at most. Actual energy costs, and savings, will be available online soon.

Other steps we have taken, or are taking, to increasing energy efficiency and comfort are as follows:

For Cooling
- Installing gable fans, behind the gable vents, to help rid the attic of excess heat before it can transfer that heat to the 2nd floor living spaces.
- Adding Whole House Exhaust fans to the 2nd floor to help rid the house of excess heat.
- Adding a 165 gallon rain-barrel system to not only supply the flower watering and car-washing needs, but mainly to supply the pump that sends cool and free water up onto the roof to cool the roof in the summer before that heat is transferred into the 2nd floor living space.  A 555 gallon system is in the works for the barn to supply the barn, barn roof, and the proposed potting shed, green-house, and vegetable garden.

For Heating
- Adding interior storm windows with thermal glass. (Insulated glass is too cost-prohibitive for our budget). We are adding interior storm windows so as not to effect the original appearance of the home. Because the existing windows are old and single-paned glass, this should make a big difference in both heat loss and noise reduction, as well as to reduce solar gain in the summer.
- In addition to the aforementioned insulation, we added a wood-burning stove, and it has made a tremendous difference. All of the firewood burned is left-over slab wood from an Amish mill, and extremely affordable. We located the stove in the basement, however, because we didn’t want to bring the dirt and dust associated with firewood into the main living quarters, and we wanted to tie the stove into the existing ductwork of the home. In addition, we ran several new ducts to supply the most used rooms in the home with their own direct access to the wood heat. By connecting the stove to the existing ductwork, we also now have the ability to send the heat generated by the stove anywhere in the home that is supplied by existing ducts. We also added a blower fan onto the stove to help distribute the heat better, but in the event of a power failure, the “stack effect” will still work in our favor as the heat rises from the stove and up into the living spaces above. Most of the aforementioned uneven temperature distribution is off-set by the wood-stove.

Finally, bringing wood through the house and into the basement was alleviated by the outdoor entrance into the basement. We built a rolling wood bin with one end angled to match the pitch of the stairs leading to this outdoor entrance, so loading the wood bin is as easy as opening the bulkhead door and dropping the wood into the wood bin one floor below. Refinements include putting the wood bin on rails, and installing a horizontally mounted electric chain hoist to reduce the effort required to move the wood bin when full.

In hind-sight, some of what we did amounted to things that looked nice and made the house immediately habitable, and we would have done several things differently if we had to do it again. As with any old house, however, it cannot be overemphasized that it is a work in process. For example, we are still in the process of installing the new ceiling below the new rigid foam insulation.

Basic and “unclassified” security measures we implemented include adding exterior lights above every exterior door, on both the house and barn. Multiple motion detection lights were added, and additional flood lights are utilized during higher-risk periods. Deadbolts on every exterior door with extended security strike-plates were added, as were mechanical window locks on every window. All doors and windows are further secured with security bars that prevent opening should the locks be defeated.

Future plans for the house include creating a solar chimney out of the stairwell by adding a cupola with functional windows at the top of the stairs. This will not only passively rid the house of excess heat, but add tons of natural light to the stairs and 2nd floor. In addition, we hope to restore and expand the barn by adding two more garage bays to it, a potting shed, and a greenhouse for organic and self-sufficient food-production. Our plan is to use SIP (structurally insulated) panels on the outside of the barn walls and roof, and then re-side the barn with reclaimed vintage barn siding, along with a new metal roof. We will be able to keep the vintage character of the barn that we love so much on the interior, while creating a tight, strong, and super-insulated shell on the exterior. The lower level of the barn will be the company’s wood and fabrication shop, with office space above in the barn loft.

As mentioned before, a 10 barrel, 555 gallon rain-water harvesting system will supply the running water needed for the shop, the office rest-room, and the irrigation needs of the green house and potting shed. Solar collectors for heating hot water, as well as heating the barn, are planned for the barn roof, and perhaps PV panels for power production too.

Finally, if we’re blessed enough, we hope to construct an addition off the rear of the home. This will house a new kitchen|great room and screened porch|drying room on the 1st floor, and a new master bath and closet on the 2nd floor. Because this will be new construction, we will have the opportunity to implement many of the ideas and technologies that we have been unable to in the existing home. For example, the addition will be built on a concrete slab with in-floor radiant heat, with solar collectors assisting in heating the water. The new kitchen and master bath will utilize a gray water collection system, and the entire structure will be constructed with 6” walls with spray-in soy-based foam insulation. At least one functional cupola will flood the interior with light while passively getting rid of excess heat. A fireplace in the corner of the great room will be outfitted with a multi-fuel stove, capable of burning pellets or corn, along with wood logs if necessary. We will continue to keep the home and its ongoing improvements updated and available online.