Welcome to Casa Neverlandia
(Page 2 of 3)
January/February 2004
By Sam Martin
Most astonishing, though, is that the house has no central heating or air conditioning, a downright courageous feat considering that July and August temperatures in Texas regularly hover between 95 and 105 degrees and the winter mercury drops below freezing at least two weeks of the year. “We’re probably not at our best in August or January,” admits Talbot. “The way we live is a little old fashioned, but in the past—before central air and heating—everyone made do by adjusting their lifestyle and their clothing.”
RELATED CONTENT
These simple but clever ideas can help transform your ho-hum residence into a place of delight....
Whether you’re building or remodeling on your own or with a contractor, insist on the healthiest, m...
Check out these eight tips for eco-friendly bathroom remodeling....
You can create spaces in places you already have....
When first considering your remodeling project, ask yourself these questions to determine what addi...
In summer, if it’s too hot to sleep inside, Talbot sets up a bed and a mosquito net on the lookout tower and sleeps there. (Full disclosure: If it’s really, really hot, Kay retreats to a small seven-by-eleven-foot room off the second floor and plugs in the sole window-unit air conditioner.) In winter, they bundle up in warm clothes and rely on gas space heaters and the Rumford-style fireplace, which is designed with a shallow firebox to radiate heat.
Thoughtful structural elements also make the house more comfortable. The walls are thick, heavily insulated, and covered in cool plaster. Also, an air space between the ceiling and the roof deck along with a reflective barrier funnels warm air up and out of the house through a ridge vent.
Going green can be fun
With its undulating plasterwork, it’s bright mirrored-tile mosaics, and many nooks and crannies, Casa Neverlandia feels like an eco-friendly funhouse. Visitors won’t find a doorbell as they approach the door; instead there’s a collection of bells, wood blocks, and xylophones to play to get the homeowners’ attention. The door might be “answered” in the form of a person’s voice echoing through a “talk tube,” a PVC pipe that courses behind the walls of the house and sprouts up into various rooms, including the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. “If I’m in the bedroom on the third floor, I can always tell when Kay is cooking because of the smell coming through the tube from the first floor,” says Talbot.