Fernau + Hartman Architects’ Santa Ynez Valley House is a Sustainable Work of Art

The owners of this beautiful 3,160-square-foot, single-family home located in the hills of the Santa Ynez Valley are ex-gallery owners and serious art collectors. The owners requested that the new two-bedroom home be energy-efficient, and <a href="http://www.fernauhartman.com/">Fernau + Hartman Architects</a> produced a design that is both contemporary and sustainable. Now that it's completed, the home sits as if it were the largest art piece in the new owners' collection.

The intersecting and intermingling buildings on the site allow for the homeowners to even frame specific views of the home that appear as built art-forms. The two-bedroom home also shares the property with a studio/guest house and a series of outdoor spaces for entertaining.

The exterior Landscape designed by Pamela Burton &amp; Company used indigenous plants mixed partially using seeds from the site, which required no irrigation.

The exterior spaces are shaded from the sun making the outdoor spaces mostly enjoyable to be in during the hot summers in Santa Ynez Valley.

The thermally efficient Rumford Fireplace has a shallow hearth which increase radiant heat transfer into the interior living room.

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The clean lines and white walls of the interior spaces contrast well with the industrial and rustic materiality of the exterior of the buildings. Even the intersecting planes of wood paneling which break up the gallery-esque interior seem like art exhibits within the building.

The interiors of the home resonate comfort and modernity. The interior materiality include sustainably grown cork flooring, reclaimed Douglas Fir decking, cabinets made from resin paper composite, and recycled sunflower seed biocomposite paneling.

The windows of the home frame fantastic views of the natural surroundings as if they were exhibits in an art gallery.

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The architects and designers at Fernau + Hartman spent a lot of time on the site to ensure that the views were being maximized for each space.

Many of the exposed outdoor living spaces, as well as larger windows, were covered by shading devices to mitigate excessive sun exposure. The buildings orientation took advantage of natural breezes for ventilation and the suns radiation for a solar heated water system.

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The floor plan of the home shows the intricate intersection of the home's buildings, which allow for multiple views from 360 degrees.