Custom Home Nov Dec 2012

The Art and Craft of Custom Home Building / November / December 2012
City Limits
Urban infill home uses site
constraints to its advantage.
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Contents November/December 2012
Features Departments
28 On Site / Altitude Adjustment 5 Editor’s Page 38 High Performers
A web of physical and regulatory restrictions 9 Custom Market Watch 40 Top of the Line
overlies its in-town San Francisco site, but this 10 Master Class / Core Principle 44 Great Finds
urbane infill residence turns every constraint
18 Custom Builder 2.0 / Artistic License 47 Ad Index
to an advantage.
24 K+B Studio / Cut Above 48 Last Detail
26 K+B Studio / Airspace
Volume 22, Number 6. CUSTOM HOME (ISSN: 1055-3479; USPS: 010-543) is published six times a year (Jan./Feb., March/April, May/June, July/Aug., Sept./Oct., Nov./Dec.) by Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle,
N.W., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005. Copyright 2012 by Hanley Wood, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without written authorization. CUSTOM HOME is sent free of charge to qualified readers
PAUL DYER
involved in the custom home building and design industries. Publisher reserves the right to determine qualification. Nonqualified annual subscription rates: U.S. and possessions and Canada, $36; all other countries,
$192. Single-copy price: $10. For subscription information, write: Circulation, CUSTOM HOME, Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, DC, 20005. Periodicals
postage paid at Washington, DC, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to CUSTOM HOME, P.O. Box 3494, Northbrook, IL 60065-9831. Printed in the USA.
On the cover: Russian Hill in San Francisco uses its tight buildable envelope to its advantage. Photo: Paul Dyer November/December 2012 / Custom Home / 3
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Editor’s Page
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR / S. Claire Conroy
MANAGING EDITOR / Jennifer Lash
Stormy Weather
SENIOR EDITORS / Meghan Drueding, LEED Green Assoc.,
Shelley D. Hutchins, Bruce D. Snider
ASSISTANT EDITOR / Hallie Busta
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR / Cheryl Weber, LEED AP
CHIEF DESIGN DIRECTOR / Gillian Berenson

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR / Brian Wilson
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTION

TECHNOLOGIES / Cathy Underwood More than a decade ago, as senior editor of this
PRODUCTION MANAGER / Marni Coccaro magazine, I visited the barrier islands of North
AD TRAFFIC MANAGER / Daisril Richards
INSIDE SALES AD TRAFFIC MANAGER / Annie Clark Carolina to write about a vacation home. The
PREPRESS COORDINATOR / Betty Kerwin
house was located on the water not far from
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR / Chris Lustan Wrightsville Beach, an area known for its vulner-
READER SERVICE MANAGER / Ann Russell
MARKETING MANAGER / Michelle Rideout ability to Atlantic hurricanes. Cape Fear is close
CREATIVE SERVICES ART DIRECTOR / Megan McCloud
by, too, part of a zone called “The Graveyard of
GROUP PRESIDENT, RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION the Atlantic.”
/ Warren Nesbitt
GROUP PUBLISHER, RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION I traveled around for several days with a cus-
/ Jeff Calore, jcalore@hanleywood.com
GROUP PUBLISHING SUPPORT MANAGER tom builder who explained how they built houses
/ Joanna Mott, jmott@hanleywood.com in the region to withstand surging water and dam-
HANLEY WOOD BUSINESS MEDIA aging winds. There, they prepare for when—not if—they will receive a direct hit from
PRESIDENT OF CONTENT / Bob Benz a hurricane.
VICE PRESIDENT, CIRCULATION AND DATABASE
DEVELOPMENT / Nick Cavnar
The lessons learned on that assignment resonated with me recently as Sandy bar-
VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCTION / Nick Elsener reled up the eastern seaboard. I had learned similar lessons from my parents, who often
VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING / Sheila Harris
VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCIAL PLANNING AND spoke of our family’s experience riding out Hurricane Hattie in Belize City. When Hat-
ANALYSIS / Ron Kraft tie reached landfall just south of the city on Oct. 31, 1961, she was a “strong” category
PUBLISHED BY HANLEY WOOD, LLC 4, newly weakened from a category 5. Ultimately more than 300 people along her
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER / Peter Goldstone four-day path perished, and most of the capital of what was then British Honduras was
VICE CHAIRMAN / Frank Anton
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER / Matthew Flynn destroyed. My mother and her two young toddlers were evacuated in the aftermath,
CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER / Dave Colford while my father remained to man the American consulate.
PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL / Andy Reid
PRESIDENT, EXHIBITIONS / Rick McConnell Like Wrightsville Beach, Belize knew hurricanes. And its indigenous architecture
PRESIDENT, MARKET INTELLIGENCE / Chris Veator
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE SALES / Paul Tourbaf
was largely built on stilts above the surge line of most storms, although Hattie got the
VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE / Shawn Edwards best of it. In coastal North Carolina, weather-weary homeowners build their houses
VICE PRESIDENT/GENERAL COUNSEL / Mike Bender
with “break-away” first floors—containing garage and guest areas—and move critical
EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES
One Thomas Circle NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005
rooms to the second and third floors.
202.452.0800 / FAX: 202.785.1974 It appears “100-year” storms like Sandy are cycling through every few years now.
www.customhomeonline.com
Severe snow storms, hurricanes, heat waves, and even earthquakes are becoming com-
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES AND BACK ISSUE ORDERS
888.269.8410 / FAX: 847.291.4816 monplace occurrences, heaped atop existing hardships various regions already endure.
These new challenges should capture the attention of custom builders and residen-
CUSTOM HOME will occasionally write about companies in which its tial architects because we need to rethink the way we design, engineer, and construct
parent organization, Hanley Wood, LLC, has an investment interest.
When it does, the magazine will fully disclose that relationship. our houses. In addition to our new zest for sustainability, we must consider the resil-
Privacy of mailing list: We rent our subscriber list to reputable ience of our buildings as well. It’s an opportunity and an obligation for anyone who
companies. If you do not wish to receive promotional material from
other companies, please call 888.269.8410. builds anew in this evolving climatological reality. We don’t want to make it right later;
Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written we want to build it right the first time.
authorization. Opinions expressed are those of the authors or
persons quoted and not necessarily those of CUSTOM HOME.
Postmaster: Send address changes to CUSTOM HOME,
P.O. Box 3494, Northbrook, IL 60065-9831.
Canada Post Registration #40612608/G.S.T. number:
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S. Claire Conroy
Canadian return address: Pitney Bowes Inc., PO Box 25542, cconroy@hanleywood.com
London, ON N6C 6B2
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www.customhomeonline.com November/December 2012 / Custom Home / 5

Advertising Sales
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION West

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Published by Hanley Wood, LLC

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Custom Market Watch By Hallie Busta
Remodeling Spending Natural Light

Thanks to a new metric
LIRA projects steady growth through the second quarter of 2013. from the Lighting Research
Center (LRC) at the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, builders,
A
general uptick in the health of the leading remodeling index, the Joint Center of architects, engineers, and
housing market and record-low in- Housing Studies’ LIRA, follow suit. They pre- other design pros have a
terest rates bode well for residential dict that by the second quarter of 2013, remod- better method for predicting
remodeling and home improvement activity, eling activity will be growing at an annual rate the maximum amount of
building on a recent spate of long-term proof 16.6 percent to total $134.2 billion for the beneficial daylighting in their
jections that homeowners will continue to feel year—that’s up from the 2.1 percent projected designs. The formulas created
comfortable investing in their properties. And dip to $115.1 billion annually predicted for the by LRC researchers calculate
the third-quarter numbers from the nation’s prior-year period. how much natural light can be
incorporated into a building
without losing insulation value
Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity or gaining too much solar heat.
Third Quarter 2012 The daylighting dashboard
$135 20% tool uses eight benchmarks to
LIRA
Homeowner Improvements Four-Quarter Moving Totals
US Census Bureau 15% introduce ample natural light

$130
and create an energy-efficient
Four-Quarter Moving Rate of Change

10% building envelope. These
$125
5% criteria—average luminance,
$120 coverage, diffuse daylight,
Billions of $
0%
daylight autonomy, circadian
$115
-5% stimulus, glazing area, view,
$110 and solar heat gain—can be
-10%
prioritized depending on the
$105 -15% client’s needs, the site’s solar
orientation, local building
$100 -20%
3 4 2010-1 2 3 4 2011-1 2 3 4 2012-1 2 3 4 2013-1 2 codes, and energy incentives.
Homeowners Swapping Luxe for Efficiency

Additions and special-function rooms meld value with functionality.
According to the AIA’s second-quarter 2012 home luxury market, first-time buyer percent of architects saying their popularity
Home Design Trends Survey, residential market, townhouse and condo market, is increasing. Energy-efficient products saw
architects and homeowners want to outfit and the second-home market have yet to similar results at 58 percent; tankless water
homes with products that are efficient and rebound, but fewer architects say the sectors heaters, water-saving products, synthetic
affordable rather than pricey and luxe. Here are weakening compared with 2011. materials, and recycled materials showed a
are some of the report’s other findings: Special-Function Rooms Thirty-five percent decline in popularity compared with 2011.
Construction Segments Additions are up of respondents said home offices were the Value-Added Features Extra insulation in the
slightly from a year ago, with 44 percent most important special function room, home is still the most popular feature, and
of architects pegging the segment as while outdoor living rooms and mudrooms the first-floor master bedroom continues to
improving. Kitchen and bath remodeling tied not far behind, each with 22 percent. attract interest as well. Ramps and elevators
also is up by a slightly greater margin from Home Products Low-maintenance products were the only feature to show increased
2011. The move-up home market, custom fell 6 percentage points from 2011, with 59 popularity for 2012.

Master Class
By Bruce D. Snider
Core Principle
Daniel Thomas and Sam Hagerman succeed by putting their employees first.
Daniel Thomas and Sam Hagerman began to sense trouble in spring 2008. Reflecting on the source of their company’s success, Hagerman and
The partners, who own the Portland, Ore.–based building and remodel- Thomas decided to stand by their most deeply held principles. “Early on,
ing company Hammer & Hand, had weathered market swings before. But we developed the core philosophy of our company, which is that employee
this time, their experience told them that housing was headed over a cliff. happiness and well-being come first,” Hagerman says. Layoffs would be-
“We knew it was too easy to get money when some of our clients were tray that code, so the partners took measures to protect jobs by bolstering
getting these loans,” says Hagerman (above, right). A lot of builders made their core business. “What we chose to do is create some related business-
similar observations at the time, but Hagerman and Thomas developed an es to surround it,” Hagerman says. Leveraging the company’s woodwork-
unusually comprehensive response, one that allowed their company not ing expertise, the partners launched a line of “upcycled” bookshelves and
JEFF TAN
only to survive the recession, but also to double in size from 2009 to 2012. tables fashioned from scrap and salvaged wood and metal. That led to the
10 / Custom Home / November/December 2012 www.customhomeonline.com

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Built on a site overlooking the Columbia River, the Vancouver Airport
Home represents a contemporary interpretation of Pacific Northwest
modernism. Its broad, overhanging roof responds to the region’s
climate by shedding winter rains, creating sheltered outdoor spaces,
and shading the ample glazing from the summer sun.
Architect: Scott | Edwards Architecture, Portland, Ore.
next step: a retail storefront in Portland’s Pearl District, a thriving down- the local energy retrofit program, Clean Energy Works Oregon,” Hager-
town neighborhood of upscale condos. “The first ones were approaching man says. After researching both LEED and Passive House programs, the
ECKERT AND ECKERT PHOTOGRAPHY
15 years old,” Hagerman says, which created a market for the company’s partners cast their lot with Passive House. “Energy is artificially cheap
design/build remodeling services as well as furniture. right now,” Hagerman says. A Passive House project still can match an
Perhaps the most important of the new initiatives reflects the partners’ equivalent code-built house in cost, he notes, “but you’re spending the
conviction that energy efficiency will define the next era of residential con- money on the house only, not on the mortgage plus energy.”
struction. First, the company launched an energy services division. “We “Passive House new homes are about 25 percent of our work now,”
got BPI [Building Performance Institute] accredited and got in line with Hagerman says, “but [the program] informs all of our work.” Insulating

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Hammer & Hand
www.hammerandhand.com
Type of business: Custom building and remodeling
Years in business: 17
Employees: 80
2011 starts: 50
Designed by Portland, Ore.–based architect Brian Paul Sweeney, this

compact urban infill house serves as both family home and architecture
office. Sustainable features include a green roof, recycled structural
beams, and a low-maintenance exterior. The interior benefits from
abundant daylighting and low-VOC finishes.
rim joists, upgrading attic insulation, and whole-house air sealing have strategies, they expected to hit at least a few foul balls. “But everything
become routine even in kitchen and bath makeovers. With interest in succeeded,” Hagerman says. The resulting rapid growth has presented
green building growing through the recession, “we’re building more new challenges, but they are the kind that get builders out of bed in the morn-
houses than we ever have,” Hagerman notes. “And that was true two ing rather than keep them awake all night. They are a proof of concept for
quarters ago, before the market started to turn.” Leveraging its expertise the proposition that a company best serves its own interests when it also
DAVID PAPAZIAN
in “low-load” buildings, the company recently opened a satellite office serves those of its employees. “We never expected to grow the business,”
in Seattle. Hagerman says, “but we didn’t want to shrink it. This was all about job
Four years ago, when Hagerman and Thomas were plotting survival creation around the core.” ■

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Research, analysis, and insights across
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REGENERATIVE DESIGN
Bob Berkebile, FAIA,
Founding Principal, BNIM Architects
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
(Land Use, Planning, and Development)
Chris Leinberger, Visiting Fellow,
Metropolitan Policy Program,
The Brookings Institution
ENERGY AND CARBON

Edward Mazria, Founder,
Architecture 2030
Francesca Desmarais,
Principal Researcher, Architecture 2030
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Nadav Malin, President, BuildingGreen
WATER EFFICIENCY
Carole Baker, Chair,
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Mary Ann Dickinson, President and CEO,
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INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

(Healthy Homes)
Join us for an unprecedented year of research and analysis David Jacobs PhD, Director of Research,
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Alex Wilson, Founder/Executive Editor,
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MARKET PENETRATION
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Custom Builder 2.0 By Meghan Drueding
Artistic License
A designer/builder applies his fine arts background to custom homes.
Peter Sabbeth first approached the building business from an tere that it scared people off,” he says. “We combined it with tradi-
unusual vantage point: the art world. Trained in art history and tional furnishings to make it user-friendly.”
practicing as a New York artist during the 1990s, Sabbeth supple- Word spread locally of the artist who renovated houses, and
mented his income by renovating Brooklyn lofts. He’d buy one, soon Sabbeth found himself spending more time designing and
move in, and remodel to his own taste. Then he’d rent out the building than on his artwork. Many of his clients were people
vastly improved unit and go on to the next apartment. who had purchased his paintings, and they enjoyed his general
On a 1999 trip to the Hamptons to see Jackson Pollock’s stu- aesthetic. “If you’re a good designer, you can design anything,”
dio, Sabbeth noticed a mid-century modern house for sale and he says. “I can put a painting together, I can put an interior to-
couldn’t resist repeating his pattern. He purchased it and designed gether—it’s all the same process for me. I think from an art
the renovation himself, confirming that his visual arts and loft perspective, from a balance perspective. I approach the design
remodeling skills translated nicely into single-family residential from my collective experience.”
projects. “It was fun, casual, and stylish—modern, but not so aus- Sabbeth still paints, often creating wall murals inside his
DANIEL GONZALEZ
projects. But over the past several years the artist has become
Modern Green Home designed and built this whole-house a full-time designer/builder, with his own five-person company,
renovation (above) in Sagaponack, N.Y. Modern Green Home. Typically he designs projects and super-

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Modern Green Home, Bridgehampton, N.Y., www.moderngreenhome.com /
Type of business: Design/build / Years in business: 7 / Employees: 5 /
Annual revenue: Withheld / Average number of projects per year: 5 /
Project type breakdown—remodeling vs. new construction: 50 percent
vs. 50 percent / Project type breakdown—residential vs. commercial:
90 percent vs. 10 percent
vises construction, but sometimes he’ll refer clients to outside

architects or collaborate with other designers. “For our staff, we
look for people who can design and who also have construction
experience,” he says. About a year ago, Sabbeth brought on a
partner, Michael Cohen, to help with business strategy, market-
ing, and operations. And the Bridgehampton, N.Y.–based com-
pany currently is looking for a project manager so that Sabbeth
can turn his focus more fully to design.
While Modern Green Home’s portfolio contains new houses
as well as renovations, the latter make up the majority of its work.
True to his remodeling roots, Sabbeth enjoys the challenge of tak-
ing a dwelling that needs some TLC and making it shiny and new.
“The uglier, the better,” he says. “It’s like a math problem that
needs to be solved.” His first high-profile remodel was a mod-
ern addition for an 1860 Sagaponack, N.Y., house once owned
by From Here to Eternity novelist James Jones. That project, a
collaboration with architect Seth Howe of STUDIOHOWE Ar-
chitecture, became the 2008 Idea House for Hamptons Cottages &
Gardens magazine. Since then, Modern Green Home has steadily
transformed older houses throughout the East End of Long Island.
The company has stayed busy throughout the recession, thanks to
the area’s ultra-high-end economy.
One of Sabbeth’s most significant projects is a 2007 new
house he created for himself, working with a young Brooklyn
architecture firm called sand_box. The partners at sand_box
introduced him to the vast world of environmental building
products and systems, and it completely changed Sabbeth’s
way of thinking. “They opened my eyes to sustainable archi-
tecture,” he says. “I took it and ran.” He tried to make the
house zero-energy, gaining large amounts of knowledge in the
process. It’s “not even close” to net-zero, he says cheerfully,
but making the effort essentially provided him with a crash
course in sustainable design.
Because the house was Sabbeth’s own, he felt free to experi-
ment. The showers are lined with cork, and a geothermal system
controls the home’s temperatures. Solar panels provide supple-
mental energy.
This first green building experience so affected Sabbeth that
he named his company accordingly. And he began to incorpo-
Recent Modern Green Home projects include this garage rate sustainable systems into most of his projects. “Almost all the
remodel (top) in Southampton, N.Y., in addition to a new houses we do have geothermal and some sort of solar panel sys-
waterfront home in North Haven, N.Y. (middle and bottom). tem,” he adds. He also steers customers toward sustainable and
recycled products, a task he says has grown infinitely easier since
2007, thanks to the expanded market for green building products.
DANIEL GONZALEZ
“We give clients sustainable options,” he says. With several proj-

ects in the works, both remodels and new construction, he'll have
plenty of opportunity to do so over the next few years. ■

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K+B Studio
Cut Above
The Seattle house called Ballard Cut takes its name from a waterway
that connects the city’s Lake Washington to Puget Sound. And while
views toward the water—and to the Olympic Peninsula beyond—de-
fine the house’s primary orientation, a set of train tracks close to the
inland property line firmly reinforce that focus. The program for the
kitchen, project designer Dan Wickline explains, balanced two im-
peratives: “opening to the view and blocking the sound.”
Sharing its troweled-in-place concrete floor with the east-fac-
ing entry foyer, the kitchen bends in an L that lines the south and
east walls of the house’s central great room. “We set the kitchen up
6 inches,” Wickline says, “so you have full access to the view, and
you’re very connected to the living and dining areas.” The dropped
floor allows bar-height seating at the dining room side without a sepa-
rate, taller counter, he notes. “It’s cleaner that way, and it also gives
definition to the two spaces.” High windows above the main counter’s
wall cabinets admit light from the south, while dodging views of a
neighboring house. Floor-to-ceiling glass lines the west wall, where
slide-fold doors create a wide opening to an elevated deck.
A concrete surface forms the counters of the main island and the
separate wine bar. “It’s the same color pigment in the floor and coun-
ter, but the aggregate is rougher on the floor and finer at the counter,”
says Wickline, who took care to avoid overdoing the “waterfall” ef-
fect of wrapping the countertops down to meet the floor. “We chose
where we did it,” he says. “We didn’t do it everywhere.” Sapele cus-
tom cabinetry subtly contrasts with the laminated Douglas fir flooring
in the dining and living areas, where a glass panel affords a view into
the basement-level wine cellar. “In the evening, with the lights on,”
Wickline says, “you get this glow from below.”—Bruce D. Snider

Cooking and
serving functions
occupy a platform
one step up from
the dining area,
which places the
counter at an
appropriate height
for barstools.
A window in the
floor offers a
glimpse into the
wine cellar. The
west wall takes
in broad views
of Ballard Cut,
the waterway for
which the house is
named (far left).
Project: Ballard
Cut, Seattle; Builder:
Dovetail General
Contractors, Seattle;
Architect: Prentiss
Architects, Seattle;
Photographer: Alex
Hayden. / Resources:
Dishwasher: Miele;
Flooring: Edgeworth;
Garbage disposal:
Viking; Lighting
fixtures: Artimide,
Juno; Oven: Miele;
Paints/stains:
Benjamin Moore;
Patio doors: NanaWall;
Plumbing fittings:
Danze; Plumbing
fixtures: Blanco,
Linkasink; Range:
Wolf; Refrigerator:
Liebherr; Windows:
Fleetwood, Milgard

K+B Studio
Airspace
Ballard Cut’s second-floor master suite offers even more dramatic it feels like the tub is part of the bathroom, but it’s also open to the
views than those from the living areas below it, and a green roof bedroom,” Wickline says. “You can access the tub from both spaces.”
over the lower volume adds further interest. Project designer Dan The bathroom proper begins simply enough, with a twin-sink
Wickline’s primary challenge lay in defining function areas without lavatory, a walk-in shower, and a toilet compartment, all in a boxlike
blocking channels to that view, all while striking the appropriate container. But Wickline’s removal of strategic elements of that box
balance between openness and privacy. yields a strikingly deconstructed space. The sink wall ends at mid-
Bathing in the bedroom is a binary decision; there are those who span, leaving the zebrawood-framed mirror and lavatory cabinet
like it and those who emphatically do not. Ballard Cut’s owners are in (both supported by hidden cantilevered steel structures) to continue
the former camp, and Wickline obliged by locating a tub at the win- without it, and opening a watery vista toward the west. The shower
dow wall, where the view angles are widest. Set in a concrete plaster opens vertically, with a skylight larger than the shower itself. “So
base, and positioned as a hinge point between the bedroom and bath- when you’re in the shower and you look up,” Wickline says, “you see
room, it promotes soaking as a social pursuit. “From the bathroom, nothing. It’s just sky.”—B.D.S.
Project: Ballard Cut, Seattle; Builder: Dovetail General Contractors, Seattle; Architect: Prentiss Architects, Seattle; Photographer: Alex Hayden / Resources: Lighting
fixtures: Artimide, Juno; Paints/stains: Benjamin Moore; Patio doors: NanaWall; Plumbing fittings: Jado; Plumbing fixtures: Toto USA, Vitraform; Skylights: Crystalite;
Windows: Fleetwood, Milgard

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ON SITE
Altitude
Adjustment An infill star rises in San Francisco
BY BRUCE D. SNIDER
E
very custom home reflects site constraints, who nevertheless designed a house that turns every
both physical and regulatory, but few oc- limitation to its advantage—and sports a LEED Plati-
cupy a tighter buildable envelope than Rus- num certification to boot.
sian Hill. Its tiny infill lot, in the upscale San “It’s a very compact site, and it’s surrounded on
Francisco neighborhood of the same name, all sides,” Maniscalco says. Five neighboring houses
was subject not only to the city’s planning directly abut the property. “And because all the houses
code and residential design guidelines, but also to have windows looking out on the site, there are inter-
easements—dating to a decades-old subdivision from esting privacy issues, too,” he says. A steep side slope,
the four adjacent properties—that imposed even more commonplace in San Francisco, complicated matters
restrictive height and setback limitations. “It’s very at the ground plane, but the real issues were up above.
unusual that we have a project that presses up against Height limits varied from one part of the site to an-
every possible limit,” says architect John Maniscalco, other, he says, “so we optimized downward,” stacking
November/December 2012 / Custom Home / 29

Project Credits: Builder: Thompson Suskind, San Francisco;
Architect: John Maniscalco Architecture, San Francisco; Living
space: 6,608 square feet; Site: 0.066 acre; Construction cost:
Withheld; Photographer: Paul Dyer / Resources: Bathroom
fittings: Dornbracht, Kohler; Bathroom fixtures: Agape, Duravit;
Dishwasher: Bosch; Fireplace: Spark Modern; Garbage
disposal: Franke; Hardware: FSB; Kitchen fittings: Dornbracht;
Kitchen fixtures: Blanco; Oven and refrigerator: Gaggenau;
Patio doors: Panda; Skylights: Royalite; Windows: Kolbe
four stories at the front of the house and three at the

rear and carving out a pair of recessed balconies, three
elevated terraces, and a roof deck.
The street façade brings order to the house’s com-
plex massing. Split-face limestone block, broken only
by blind doors to the garage and a small entry court-
yard, wraps the first floor, lending a sense of security
at the sidewalk elevation and serving as a plinth for the
stucco, steel, and glass elements above. San Francisco
permits its famous bay windows to overhang the side-
walk, so Maniscalco designed an asymmetrical, plate-
steel-clad version “to participate in the pattern of bay
windows in a much more modern way.”
To buffer living spaces from the public, the garage
and entry stair occupy the front half of the floor plan at
street level. A family room stretches the width of the
house at the rear, opening onto a compact, private gar-
den with a fence of obscure-glass panels that, Manis-
calco says, “kind of reverses the sense of enclosure.”
Kitchen, dining, and living spaces fill the second floor,
with a great room at the rear and formal dining and
living areas at the front. The master bedroom and two
children’s rooms are on the third floor, while the fourth
floor holds an office and a media room, each with its
own terrace, and access to the roof deck.
City views open progressively as one rises through
the house, culminating in the roof deck’s 360-de-
gree panorama. “You can see around the whole city,”
Maniscalco says, “but the primary view is the entirety
of the Golden Gate Bridge.” After paying due respect
to those views—with room-width glazing at the north
and south walls—he addressed a perennial challenge to
Bay City architects: getting light into the center of the
house. The entry stair, which rises through a skylight-
topped volume, lends the adjacent living area “some
two-story expansion,” he says, but the main event is
a transverse stair hall that serves as an oversize light
well. With roof windows above and glass-panel decks
at the third and fourth floors, it channels daylight deep
into the core of the building.
Exposed steel framing and glass railings give the
central hall a bold visual character that contrasts with
the house’s otherwise muted palette, and its welded

An open kitchen/family room with a breakfast bay
and a counter for casual dining stretches the width
of the house. A full story above grade at the rear of
the building, the room enjoys elevated city views.

An etched glass privacy fence expands the
lower-level family room to take in the compact
backyard. A gas-fueled firepit provides an
off-center focal point.

A two-story entry hall lends a sense of verticality
to the living and dining areas at the front of
the house. The main stair channels light through
the core of the building. A folded street-front
façade allows this guest room window to wrap
a corner (clockwise from right).
plate-steel stair represents something of a technologi-

cal tour de force. While each flight’s folded plane ap-
pears to float clear of its adjacent wall, every fourth
riser extends into the wall, acting as a cantilevered
beam. Walnut treads and railing caps weave the as-
sembly into the material scheme of the surrounding
space, while its low profile maximizes the transmis-
sion of light from above.
“One of the highlights of the project for me was
fleshing out and finishing the stair design without
blowing the budget,” says builder Derek Thompson.
But the project’s ambitious green agenda yielded a
long list of other accomplishments. “The biggest chal-
lenge,” he says, “was achieving LEED Platinum with
a contemporary design.” As with any modern house,
making it look easy is the hardest part, and many of
this house’s notable features are hidden. The photovol-
taic panels that feed electricity back to the grid lie flat
atop the highest roof. Every drop of rain that falls on
the building flows into a 1,500-gallon tank buried be-
neath the garage slab, for use in landscape irrigation.
And the invisible feature of air quality drew special at-
tention. “We do blower door tests before the drywall
goes on, and that house performed incredibly high,”
Thompson says. “It also has whole-house air filtration.
It’s basically scrubbing the air throughout the house.”
“It’s a pretty sophisticated living environment,”
notes Maniscalco, who specified fingerprint-detec-
tion entry locks, automatic window shades that track
the sun’s path through the sky, and lighting, A/V, and
alarm systems that can be controlled remotely via
smartphone. “There’s a TV inside the master bath-
room shower,” he adds, “behind the mirror.” But none
of those bells and whistles eclipse Russian Hill’s most
sophisticated dimension: its control of material, light,
and geometry on a site that was as difficult as it was
promising. “It’s not a design that allows a lot of tol-
erance,” Maniscalco says. “There’s a precision that
comes from the core outward.” ■

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found—Nichiha’s fiber cement siding—helped his team remodel
a mid-century home with a tri-level roof and painted board and
batten siding into the first LEED Platinum home in Carmel-by-
the-Sea, Calif. (shown). “We removed the battens, renailed the re-
sawn plywood, and completed our house expansion,” McNamee
explains. “Then we wrapped the house with Tyvek and installed
the pre-finished white Nichiha siding over it.” The slight technical
hitch borne from McNamee’s trimless installation was remedied
by a ¼-inch standoff clip system attaching the company’s 60-foot-
by-18-inch panels, set in a running-bond pattern, to the substrate.
Fifty percent fly ash composition adds a green element, and readily
available training materials also impressed McNamee. “They have
online tutorials that really helped us understand the process,” he
says, “and their West Coast rep was happy to meet up prior to and
during construction.” Nichiha. 866.424.4421. www.nichiha.com.
Sven Gustafson
Stonewood, Minneapolis
Technological support on the back end of the building process is

necessary to get a job done on time and on budget. Builder Sven
Gustafson says he picked up the integrated construction manage-
ment software platform BuildTools on referral from another build-
er and claims that it has changed internal communications at his
Minneapolis-based company, Stonewood. More efficient technol-
ogy is helping to make inroads with a tech-savvy, design-educated
customer base. The platform combines project-related informa-
tion from the bidding phase through pre-closing work, and it al-
lows the homeowner, builder, dealer, and subcontractors to inter-
act via iPhone and iPad. “Our project managers have iPhones and
they’ll take pictures of the jobsite and when clients log in, they’ll
see it,” he says. BuildTools. 877.693.2171. www.buildtools.com.

“While there’s no single pill to swallow to limit or
otherwise avoid green building liability, there is
a single opportunity that stands out above others:
A properly drafted AIA Contract Document.”
Stuart Kaplow, Esquire, Green Building Attorney
A101™–2007 SP
Standard Form of
Agreement Between
Owner and Contractor,
for use on a Sustainable Project
Sustainable building now comes with an added layer of protection.

New Sustainable Projects Documents let you build sustainably while helping shield your business from risk.
The industry standard is now the green standard. Introducing AIA Contract Documents’ all-new Sustainable Projects (SP) Documents, a
coordinated set of documents and contracts for use on traditional A201 family design-bid-build projects. The new sustainability-focused contract
documents help mitigate your professional risks by addressing the unique issues specific to green projects. AIA Contract Documents continue to be
easy-to-use, widely accepted, and fair and balanced for all parties involved.
Learn more and view sample documents at www.aia.org/customhomesp or call 800-242-3837.
AIA Contract Documents
Expand your contract knowledge at aia.org/docucation

CUT THE WASTE NEW FROM
CAPTURE THE SAVINGS WITH
The JLC Guide to
Energy Efficiency
The growing demand for energy efficiency is creating new
challenges, and new opportunities for residential builders
and remodelers.
The JLC Guide to Energy Efficiency will teach you to use

the right techniques and the best products to make any
home more comfortable, durable, and energy-smart.
It explains the myths and solves the mysteries about

energy and moisture in the home, how to build airtight
shells and detect hidden air leaks, the pros and cons of
popular insulation materials, the uses (and misuses) of air
and vapor barriers, details for high-R wall systems, and
much more.
ORDER NOW HB2NG
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: THE CODES REQUIRE IT. YOUR CLIENTS WANT IT. NOW YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!
jlcbooks.com/pub/nrg • (800) 859-3669

Get The JLC Guide to
Energy Efficiency and SAVE. Published by
Practical advice for the real world.
Advertising Index
Go to http://chome.hotims.com for more product information
Advertiser Page(s) Advertiser Page(s)
AdvanTech Flooring C4 MFE Concept Community 43

AIA 45 Milgard 2
BD Local Housing Data 36 Napoleon Fireplaces 39
Builder HousePlans 16 PERC 1
Crown Point Cabinetry 8 PPG Industries 19
Hanley Wood University 37 Rinnai C2
Hanley Wood Market Intelligence 23 Sherwin Williams 27
JELD-WEN Windows & Doors 15 SoftPlan 6
Jesse H. Neal Award 22 SUNFLEX 11
JLC Energy Book 46 The Tapco Group 7
Kohler 13 Vision 2020 17
LiftMaster 21 Weiland Sliding Doors C3
Masonite 4
* Appears in regional editions
MetalCeilingExpress 41
Custom Home United States Postal Service

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, and CIRCULATION
Required by 39 USC 3685
Statement of Ownership 1. Publication Title: Custom Home
2. Publication Number: 010-543
3. Filing Date: 9/30/12
4. Issue of Frequency: Bi-monthly Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec
5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 6
6. Annual Subscription Price: Free To Qualified; Non-Qualified $36/year
7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (Not Printer): Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W. , Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005
8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (Not Printer): Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W. , Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005
9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor - Publisher: Warren Nesbitt - Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W. , Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005;
Editor: S. Claire Conroy - Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W. , Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005; Managing Editor: Jennifer Lash - Hanley Wood, LLC, One Thomas Circle, N.W. , Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20005
10. Owner - Full name: FSC Holdings, LLC;One Thomas Circle, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005;HW Topco Inc.Attn. Mike Bender, One Thomas Circle, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None
13. Publication Title: Custom Home Average No. Copies Each Issue No. Copies of Single Issue
14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 During Preceding 12 Months Published Nearest to Filing Date
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation
a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) 22,159 22,288
b. Legitimate Paid and/or Requested Distribution
(1) Outside County Paid/Requested Mail subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. 20,412 20,369
(2) In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. 0 0
(3) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS ® 0 0
(4) Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS 38 33
c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation [Sum of 15b 1, 2, 3 & 4] 20,450 20,402
d. Nonrequested Distribution
(1) Outside Country Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS From 3541 513 473
(2) In-Country Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS From 3541 0 0
(3) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail 0 0
(4) Nonrequested Copies DistributedOutside the Mail 331 509
e. Total Nonrequested Distribution ((Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), and (4)) 843 982
f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) 21,293 21,384
g. Copies not Distributed 866 904
h. Total (Sum of 15f and 15g) 22,159 22,288
i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 96.04% 95.41%
16. Total circulation includes electronic copies. Report circulation on PS Form 3526-X.
17. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November/December 2012 issue of this publication.
18. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. Signature and title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner - Warren P. Nesbitt, Group President, 9/30/12

Last Detail
With both of their children
City Nights
off to college, Cape Cod,
Mass.–based architect
Mark Hutker and his wife,
Carla, decided to live a
little. “In transitioning to
empty-nesting,” Hutker
says, “we decided to get this
Boston pied-à-terre.” As an
architect, though, Hutker
had to make some alterations
to the standard spec of the
one-bedroom seventh-floor
apartment. The first order of
business: Create some extra
sleeping space, so the kids
can stay over, too.
Making the most of
a 1,050-square-foot plan,
Hutker devised a set of
built-in bunks that fold
guest accommodations
into an almost impossibly
compact package.
Borrowing space from
the living room and foyer,
the “cabinet” holds two
sleeping berths, each
equipped with a bookshelf,
lamp, and privacy curtain.
With a ceiling-hung curtain
drawn, Hutker says, “it
makes a tiny little room. It’s
akin to a berth on a ship or
a sleeper car.” At the foot of
the beds, two folding panels
open the bunks onto the
living room. “When you’re
lying in the berth, you have
a panoramic view of the
city,” says Hutker, who has
feathered this nest so well
ERIC ROTH
that it will never be empty

for long.—Bruce D. Snider

Redefine Boundaries
When it comes to creating dramatic sliding door openings, we’ve got you covered.
Weiland has been around for more than 25 years, and we’re the only ones with
sliding doors that feature a weather-rated flush bottom track. Our doors are built in
configurations that fit your design, with huge panels weighing up to 1300 lbs. each,
and corner doors at almost any angle. So you have the freedom to define indoor/
outdoor boundaries any way you choose.
LIFTSLIDES BIFOLDS WINDOWS IMPACT RATINGS
Oceanside, California weilandslidingdoors.com 760.722.8828

Custom Home Nov Dec 2012

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The Art and Craft of Custom Home Building / November / December 2012

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Remodeling Spending Natural Light

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FOLDING DOORS l SLIDING DOORS l HORIZONTAL SLIDING WALLS

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