Detail of Bathroom Ethan Kaplan Photagraphy

Bruce Damonte

Photo: Bay Area VR - Eli Poblitz

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Bathroom located in a townhouse in Aspendale, steps away from the beach. Client contacted us due to the shower leaking through to the ceiling in the room below the bathroom. The client wanted us to provide him with a quote to renovate the entire bathroom, and a second option to renovate the shower on it’s own without disturbing the remainder of the bathroom. We presented our proposals to the client, and he opted for the full bathroom renovation option. The client sent us some images from google of bathrooms that were the “vibe” he was wanting to achieve. He had requested a hotel style bathroom. We produced a mood board of fittings, fixtures and tiles, and the client was happy that we had made his vision come to life. We used matt black shower screen and fittings, the timber look vanity against the natural moody grey tiles, the client informed us that we had nailed his brief and he was beyond impressed with the quality of the workmanship, and the end to end customer experience we had provided him with. Timeline of this job; 28/4/2021 at 11/39am: Client made initial phone contact with the office requesting a quote and site visit. 28/4/2021 11.39am Client made initial phone contact with the office requesting a quote and site visit 28/4/2021 11.48am Site visit was confirmed and booked in for our team to attend on 6/5/2021 6/5/2021 4.01pm Site was visited by our team, measurements taken, client brief discussed, bathroom inspected. 7/5/2021 12.12pm Quote options, proposal and moodboard containing images of fittings, fixtures and tiles as per the brief sent to client via email 8/5/2021 4.54pm Client accepted quote for full bathroom renovation 12/5/2021 7.30am Works commence, bathroom is stripped out using our high quality dust extraction system and connected tools. Plumbing rough in is completed. 13/5/2021 3.42pm Bathroom is rebuilt and sheeted. 14/5/2021 10.30am Bathroom receives first coat of waterproofing 17/5/2021 9.00am Bathroom receives final coat of waterproofing 18/5/2021 1.49pm Shower base is screeded and floor outside shower is tiled 19/5/2021 3.11pm Shower base and RHS wall of bathroom and wall behind toilet are tiled. 20/5/2021 2.04pm All tiling is complete 21/5/2021 10.30am Grouting is complete 24/5/2021 10.30am Cauling is completed 25/5/2021 12.40pm Plumbing is fitted off (installed) toilet, vanity, tapware 26/5/2021 11.05am Shower screen is installed and bathroom is handed over to client, ready to use in 24 hours.

This modern white marble primary bath in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, DC features an expansive two-person shower, champagne gold fixtures, and floating double vanity.

A lovely bathroom, with brushed gold finishes, a sumptuous shower and enormous bath and a shower toilet. The tiles are not marble but a very large practical marble effect porcelain which is perfect for easy maintenance.

Modern Master Bathroom Design with Custom Door

photo by Molly Winters