Custom Home

Solterra Way

A 2,209 square foot certified high performance home in Durham, designed by Richard Harkrader and featured on the High Performance Home Tour. Passive solar orientation, a 10.58 kW array, and every piece of exposed wood in the house milled from trees taken off the lot it stands on.

Size2,209 sq ft

Layout3 Bed, 2.5 Bath

LocationDurham, NC

Living room with a sloped pine ceiling, wood burning stove and polished concrete floor

Living Room / Locally Milled Ceiling and Wood Stove

Wide view of the custom kitchen with a rattan pendant, built in window seat and picture window

The Wood Came With the Lot

All the trim and exposed wood in this house came off the site it sits on, milled locally in Graham. The ceilings, the stair, the cabinetry and the window seat are the trees that used to stand here.

Sculptural stair volume clad in locally milled wood with a hidden storage door

Bathroom with terracotta and teal geometric tile and wall mounted brass faucets

Built to Be Cheap to Run

Advanced framing with 2x6 studs at 24 inches on centre, laid out so the house needs less lumber and holds more insulation. Continuous R6 outside the sheathing, a continuous air barrier, and dense pack cellulose well past code.

Kitchen elevation with milled wood cabinetry, open shelving and a graphic tile backsplash

Wood burning stove set against a milled wood wall on a tiled hearth

Tall cabinet run in locally milled wood with brass pulls and a panel front refrigerator

Brass Left Unlacquered

The fixtures and the hardware were specified raw rather than sealed, so they darken and mark with use instead of staying frozen at the day they were fitted. In ten years they will look like part of the house.

Pierced brass globe pendant hanging below a warm wood ceiling

Unlacquered brass faucet on a pale blue green tile counter with an undermount sink

Wood plank ceiling following the roof pitch with pendant lighting

The Specification

What Makes It a High Performance Home.

This one was built to be shown. It was an entry on the High Performance Home Tour.

01
10.58 kW Solar Array Expected to produce roughly 12,400 kWh a year, sized against the load of the house rather than the size of the roof.
02
Passive Solar Orientation South facing glass with correctly sized overhangs to catch winter sun and reject summer sun, minimal glazing on the north side, and an insulated slab.
03
Advanced Framing, 2x6 at 24 Inches Laid out on even dimensions so the house uses less lumber and carries more insulation in the same wall thickness.
04
Continuous R6 Exterior Insulation An unbroken layer outside the sheathing, plus a continuous air barrier around the whole structure, so heat has no path through the framing.
05
Mechanicals Inside the Envelope The entire system sits within conditioned space, keeping duct runs short and the equipment properly sized. A dehumidifier is built into it.
06
Dense Pack Cellulose, Past Code Recycled paper fibre packed to density in walls and roof, exceeding code in both, with radiant barrier roof decking above it.
07
Wood Milled From the Lot Every piece of trim and exposed wood came off this site and was milled in Graham, North Carolina.
08
29 Gauge Standing Rib Metal Roof Rated for a 45 year finish, so the roof outlives most of what goes under it.

Next Project Dorcas Street Duplex

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