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Home / About Davis Frame / News |
Off the Grid is Plenty Cozy |
For the Smiths, off the grid is plenty cozy
By Penny Nakamura/ For The Bend Bulletin
 The minute you meet Doug and Leanne Smith at their Sisters home, you know they believe in their house's beauty and functionality. They have a good reason to be proud.
"We are totally off the grid," exclaims an exuberant Leanne, a retired U.S. Department of Energy chemist. "This house is totally powered with the latest renewable energy technologies. It provides all our electricity, heat and water needs."
Doug Smith, a former DOE engineer, and his wife did their homework before deciding that a timber frame home would be the most energy-efficient and aesthetically pleasing. This decisive and scientific couple retired from the DOE knowing how important it is to tread lightly on the earth's resources.
"It is something we firmly believe in — we're committed to renewable energy," explains Doug, as he points out the 27 solar panels on the roof. "These solar systems are proven technology; we're confident with the physics. We use the electric and solar hot water panels to complement our passive solar design."
When building their dream home in 2008, the Smiths, who had lived in a log home in Colorado, say they already knew a log home would not be energy-efficient. They sought out what they believe is the most snug home.
"This is structurally superior to a log home. We use SIPS (structurally insulated panels), which is twice the R-value (insulation rating) of a conventionally built home. It's tight, our walls are about 6 inches thick with ICF's (insulated concrete forms)," explains Leanne, who with her husband also spent weeks researching the best placement of their home to maximize passive solar heating.
Reclaimed wood
While the Smith's can quote numbers and scientific calculations, such as the angle of the sun at a certain time during the day, depending on the season, they aren't just scientists when it comes to this house.
They use a modern decor style, while also incorporating antiques.
Perhaps the most broadly used antique in their house is the reclaimed wood they used from Leanne's uncle's barn, which had blown does in the small Oregon town of Stayton.
"That barn was over 100 years old when it went down, so we used it for the living room floors, the entry ceiling here, the fireplace mantel and the kitchen cupboards," says Leanne pointing to the beautiful distresses Douglas fir wood.
The Smith's say they love how the old wood complements the timber frame in their 2,850-square-foot house. They believe good design is harmony, and there's no better design than nature.
Taking an inspirational cue from their 27-acre property, they use the colors from the outside and bring them into their home. Leanne learned to glaze her walls — a specialty painting technique — and uses muted brown and beige tones throughout the downstairs area.
As you would expect from this environmentally conscious couple, they do not have laws or manicured gardens; they prefer the natural landscape, and they let nature take over with its wild grasses and juniper trees.
Loving the look of the reclaimed wood in their home, they were also able to procure additional wood from an old, defunct mill in Eugene to use in other rooms in their home.
"I love the texture of the old wood," says Leanne, who has a discerning eye when it comes to the original character of woods. "I had one visitor here, and she saw the mars in the wood floor, and she said, 'Oh what a shame.' But I think all these imperfections in the wood is what gives it warmth and charm."
The overall effect of the antique woods makes the house feel very warm and comfortable. Combine the old woods with the antiques the Smith have collected over the decades, and this three bedroom home comes alive with personality.
In the Smith's home office, they used board and batten siding for the walls. Coupled with the antique oak desk they purchased from the Durango, Colorado train depot, the look is historic.
Special touches
 The Smith's didn't just use reclaimed wood; they also found recycled stainless steel, which they used for a kitchen countertop/eating bar. A special chemical on the stainless steel, Leanne says, gave the metal a shiny black patina. The kitchen's other countertops use a hand-chiseled granite, which fits in nicely with the reclaimed kitchen cupboards, modeled after the mission style design with square wooden pegs. Above the eating bar are stunning, hand-blown, hanging amber glass light fixtures made by Sisters glass artist Susie Zeitner, who also made a larger and equally stunning ceiling lamp for the dining room area.
Because this is a timber frame home with exposed beams, the living room, dining room and kitchen have an open design, which is perfect for entertaining.
The Smith's love the look of the exposed beams that can be seen throughout the house.
"I think the exposed timber and trusses bring an old-world look to the house, but it's not just the beauty. These timber frames are structurally superior; they carry the structural load, which eliminates the need for load-bearing walls," says Leanne, pointing up at the large timber frame beams above the living room. "The timber frame uses mortise and tenon (joints) with hardwood pegs. This type of joinery of wood has been used for centuries by woodworkers because the of the strength and simplicity. Timberline Lodge (at Mount Hood) is also a good example of timber frame construction."
The couple's master bedroom is simple, and the headboard and footboard of the bed were also fashioned from that old reclaimed barn wood.
The master bathroom also leads into the large master walk-in closet, which brilliantly houses the washer and dryer, eliminating the need for a laundry room. Leanne found the cupboards for the laundry room and closet at the ReStore shop in Sisters, and also used paint she found there to paint the interior of the large closet/laundry room.
Off the foyer is a wooden floating staircase with black wrought-iron railing. Along the staircase walls, Leanne has a collection of antique irons and railroad ties.
Upstairs the Smith's built a sitting room with a low-slung ceiling, which leads into the guest bathroom and guest bedroom. The low ceiling still gives ample space and headroom, and was done intentionally to make the house more energy efficient.
"Any time you have really high ceilings, like cathedral ceilings, you start to lose so much heat," explains Leanne. "Plus I like the cozy, warm feeling you get when you're up here."
Her guest bedroom is filled with Western antiques and family heirloom antique quilts. She even designed one open wall pocket to house her antique quilt collection.
While the Smiths love the way their entire house turned and how well it functions, they say their favorite place in the home is a simple little nook off the kitchen, with two comfortable wicker chairs, which they call their reading area. With windows providing natural light, and with a dynamic view of the Three Sisters, these voracious readers feel most comfortable in this corner.
Efficiency
 Leanne closes the door of the airlock entryway and points out the temperature differences between the outdoors, the entryway and the living room area, and stresses that there's no forced air heating or air conditioning in this home. The heating all comes through radiant heated floors, and because of strategic placement of the house, and thoughtful placement of each and every window, there is no need for air conditioning, as the house is snug and stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. With all the work the Smiths did on their home, it's not surprising it won the top (platinum) certification granted from Earth Advantage, a Portland based group that rates eco-friendly homes.
"We're off the grid, and some people come here and are shocked we still have a dishwasher and a microwave," says Leanne laughing. "We don't live in a closet because we're off the grid, and we can still have modern appliances too."
Doug also shares in his wife's enthusiasm for having an efficient and yet fully functional home, and though it cost about $50,000 to keep off the grid, he calculates approximately 50 percent of the cost was returned to them in tax credits.
"We don't have utility bills, so I figure in six to seven years, we'll break even. But we didn't do this to save money, we did this because we believe in renewable energy," explained Doug, a native Oregonian who say's he's all too happy to be back home again, in this very special green home.
Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc.
www.bendbulletin.com |
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