Modern Homestead: A California Home Creates Self-Sufficient Green Dream

(Page 3 of 3)

March/April 2008
By Erin Milgram 
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A conversation with the homeowners

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What do you love most about your house?
Karen Boness: My favorite room is the dining room, because I can see everything I love from there: all the curves, the living room, the banquette, the kitchen views, the gardens.
Mark Feichtmeir: Except for the guest bedrooms, we use all the other rooms on a regular basis, which is so different from our previous home.

Did you save money where you didn’t expect to?
Karen: We’re saving a lot on produce these days!

How can people who aren’t building a new home connect to their land?
Mark: Grow your own food. You can grow an amazing amount of food on just a balcony. I also recommend being aware of the environment and conscious of what you consume—that’s the beginning of the process. 

Architect: Todd Jersey Architecture, (510) 528-5477;
Interior designer: Deborah Coburn, Naturally Inspired, (415) 258-0543;
Sustainable tours and consulting: Kenwood Permaculture 

Permaculture: An ecological design practice that creates functional, interdependent systems that serve both nature and humans.

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Comments

  • keithnorlin 3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM

    Re: Modern Homestead. I would like to find out more about the
    "high efficency Kiva-Rumford fireplace". When building a southwest
    territorial style home in southern Utah we wanted to incorporate
    such a unit but were unable to find a manufacture. We ended up with
    a non-heating fireplace which I would like to replace with a unit
    as shown in the article. Help? kn

  • bpinet 3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

    I would really like to see what their budget, retirement
    accounts, etc. looked like when they started. We wanted the same
    thing, but found out unless we wanted to spend our entire
    retirement accounts, we could not achieve the dream. Unfortunately
    I still think alot of "green" and sustainable options are for the
    upper class and not the average joe. We can collect rainwater,
    built with SIP Panels, but solar, wind and so far hydro have been
    out of the question. Did some passive, but the only land we could
    afford was north facing, south facing lots in New England are
    either hard to find, or very expensive. Its great to tell these
    stories, but I would like to hear the whole story, what they spent,
    what they really live off now, do they hunt and grow all their
    food, how do they pay for health insurance? Do they really still
    work? Lets hear it all

  • bpinet 3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

    Would like to see their budget when started, what they spent on
    the project and what they have to live off after the fact. Most
    likely, they have money in the bank, and had a ton to build with.
    This type of home was our dream, but we realized the average joe
    can't afford to dream in America. What little we were able to do
    won't help much. Its nice to see and read about this stuff, but
    most of us can't do it and without the financial facts, people like
    me think they can only to have the dream fall far short and
    potential end up with a large mortgage and a bunch of land they
    have no time to care for or enjoy - gotta work to pay the big
    mortgage.

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