Demar Residence

This project began with a 1950’s ‘tech built’ house by Carl Koch. It was a compact symmetrical house with panelized walls and roof, a post-war version of a modular starter home.

Our addition is connected to the original house with a low connector piece, which becomesthe entry to the house. The addition steps down, following the contours of the site, to create a rear courtyard with the original house. The spine along the inside wall leads past the kitchen, down into a large living room facing the garden in the rear, and finally to a study/guest room looking out into the woods. The addition respects the massing and detailing of the original house, and plays off the original façade composition.

The new project will be significantly more efficient and sustainable than the 1950’s house. It has a super-insulated building envelope, will require very little energy to maintain, and is a LEED for homes project (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Some of the water retention strategies in the home design included using permeable paving for the driveway, landscaping with drought-tolerant plants, and choosing high-efficiency plumbing fixtures inside. And because of the double-wall construction which eliminates thermal bridging, the house had an exceptional HERS rating of 46, indicating exceptional energy performance.