We Painted our Green Built Home- Green!

Renovating a home, as my husband the builder has told me countless times, can be full of surprises and lots more work than you ever imagine. I don't like to admit it but he was right. Renovating this simple cottage seemed to take forever and of course cost more than we'd hoped.  

After barging from Sidney, BC and landing on Orcas our little cottage made  a perious journey down the road to it's new home on Orcas Island. There it was set up on steel beams until the foundation was poured for the house and  the new master suite addition. After approval by the county, it was lowered to it's new foundation. Then the fun began!

Ken and crew began tearing things out; like the kitchen, the pergo floors, the boring doors, the skinny trim, the carpet, most of the bathroom. Well, you get the idea, it was a top to bottom redo. The planning stage, that's the most fun when creativity surges and the ideas flow.

Our goal was to have a Craftsman-inspired Home with as many sustainable products that we could manage. We hired local carpenters, electricians, plumbers and painters. The cabinets were made on Island. We used wood from the property that we had milled. We both believe in details and high quality workmanship and were aiming for a jewelbox!  Sustainable in style with low maintanence exterior, single story living, and sited for sunshine.

Split cedar rails enclose the small garden by the entry. (Cedar from property)

 

 Oak Fumed Entry Door.

 

Suistainably harvested Bamboo Floors. A bank of windows faces west in the living room.

Hand crafted mantle on Blue Stone propane fireplace.

The view from the front door.

Glass vessel sinks in bath rooms on Island made cabinets.

Italian Tile in Master bath.

 Cork floors in Kitchen, High end Stainless Steel Appliances and locally made cabinets.

South facing bank of windows for solar gain in new master suite.

South facing porch off of living room.

Yes, we painted it Green! Three tones of green on Hardiboard planking. That will last forever and never grow moss! There is a small detail of deep red trim, but you can't see it in the pictures. This home on two level acres is just one mile to town. You can keep chickens here or a few sheep. There are horses in the neighborhood. It is a great place to garden as the soil is deep, rich, dark and well drained. Soil like this is rare on Orcas, mostly we have clay and rock!  All the surfaces are new in this home, and everything has been done with love and care. If you care about the planet, this home is one to look at. Available for the right folks for $479,500.

For more information about homes that may suit your lifestyle drop me a line! 

Kate@orcasdreams.com

Building Green on Orcas

It was a wild idea, born of the frustration of high building costs and a desire to recycle and reuse. We had been tossing it around for years. We kept looking for the right piece of land and the right house. The land had to be here on Orcas and the house would come by barge from Canada. You also had to be able to get the house down the road and our roads are narrow and winding, with many overhanging trees. So the house had to be narrow. NO, we did not want a prefab!  NO, we did not want a manufactured home! We wanted to save a quality, stick-built home that was "in the path of progress" and slated for destruction. We were going to recycle a whole house!

 Nickle Brothers in Victoria was our resource.  Over the years we had made friends of Jeremy Nickles and Jim Connley, looking at houses that were to be 'scrape-off's'. Jim and I shared a love of old homes that had good bones and charm, wood floors and framing made of fir that would only be used as trim today. Ken was looking for something a bit more practical, and would require less work.

Then we found the land! It was level, sunny and it was just one mile to a potential barge site and town. There were huge old Big Leaf Maples. There were Cedar trees that were three feet across, Black Willow, Red Alder, English Holly and many beautiful straight Douglas Firs. The land had the most beautiful well drained soil, black with fertility, perfect for gardens that so many Orcas Islanders want.  There were natural meadows, ready for a horse of your own.

We chartered a small plane and flew to Sidney were Jim picked us up. He had two homes there that he said would fit our needs, narrow enough to go down the road and just one story, as so many of our buyers wanted a home all on one level. They were twin houses, in good shape and Ken thought they would be perfect for our project. Then Jim took us over to a little stucco cottage. It was not hard to imagine it on the moors of Ireland, built in 1910.

It had glass door knobs. 

                                                 It had real plaster and lathe walls!

It had old oak floors-in great condtion!

It had old fashioned wood windows!

It had the right look for an Island Home.

I could see it already...

 on it's barge coming to it's new home on Orcas!  Well, if we were going to get two homes, why not three??

Ken thought it was a good plan!

Talk about saving the trees!

With a one thousand square foot home we would save one hundred trees!  With three homes we'd save three hundred trees! Wow, that felt like a good thing to do.