Greens Out and A 1950s Bungalow Grows Up

After residing in Germany, Italy and Spain, architects Gail and Robert Karn transferred their family back to the United States, bringing a European design edge with them.

The few scooped an outdated 1950s bungalow on two acres of oak forest and set out to integrate some of the super-energy-efficient layouts they’d undergone abroad: highly insulated, robustly ventilated, south oriented (to catch heat and light) — all components of the Passive House standard. “Our aim was to build a small yet spacious, beautiful, energy-efficient home that grabbed the distinctive all-natural cirumstances such as the ones we designed and experienced throughout Europe,” says Gail. The renovation included a 1,450-square-foot addition that was vertical.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Gail Karn, manager of technical sales for Rheinzink and her husband, architect Robert Karn of Consilium Urban Design and Architecture
Location: Sudbury, Massachusetts
Size: 2,700 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 3 baths
Price: $90 per square foot for just the 1,450-square-foot Accession

Before Photo

BEFORE: The first home was 1,250 square feet; it’s located on a steeply sloped site. The attic level of the first home was roughly level into the road.

The few committed each weekend into the renovation — with help in their three sons, who have moved on to college — beginning with removing the roof and the present exterior.

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AFTER: A bridge now connects the driveway into the upper level, which is the brand new third floor and houses the living room, dining room, kitchen and an office–guest room. The next degree, which was the primary amount of the first home, comprises the bedrooms, although the bottom is an unfinished basement.

Wisteria climbs over the Western red cedar bridge. The couple intends to let the wisteria grow around the bridge and above the deck rails, and to put in a roof garden. At the most recent year, the home’s total utility cost was $200 per month, and also the Karns expect to lower that sum by installing rooftop solar panels.

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To prevent raising the footprint, then the Karns built up instead of out. The renovation more than doubled the home’s original square footage. The facade substance is Rheinzinc, which is a 99 percent zinc and 1 percent a titanium substance that does not require painting.

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Cedar slats surround the sides and fronts of two decks, creating privacy while still allowing airflow and light.

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The home is designed to efficiently deal with warm, humid summers and freezing-cold winters. “In the winter passive solar through south-facing windows augments the radiant flooring system, often turning off the radiant system even at low outside temperature on sunny days,” Robert says.

Radiant floor heating and domestic hot water are provided by a natural gas tankless hot-water heater. “Excess heat is collected and circulated into the lower floors with a high-velocity air system,” he says. “The first home at more than half the size had a massive oil burner to warm the home.”

Air method: Spacepak and Unico; water heater: Takagi; air conditioner: Fujitsi

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A window glass shelves joins the kitchen into the dining area and functions as a bar and a food pass-through.

Dining seats: Bellini

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Sliding doors maximize and manage the ventilation by allowing cross breezes in warmer weather. A French bronze sculpture sits on a base made from a classic baby playpen. Robert took the photograph on the wall; it is obviously a French chateau reflected in a tube of water.

Flooring: Buy Direct

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Conservation land encompasses the house on either side, creating gorgeous views unlikely to change. “In summer time the oak forest provides sufficient shade to need air conditioning roughly eight to ten days a year,” Robert says.

Radiant flooring: Heatlink

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Living room furniture: BoConcept

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Models of Barcelona and Rome sit on the coffee table. The fireplace surround is made from the identical magnesium substance as the outside of the home.

Coffee table: Calligaris

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Maple and stainless steel cabinets blend with the walnut flooring and metallic finishes in the kitchen.

Cabinets: Ikea; countertops: granite, Watertown Tile

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The wall to the left of the countertop is the chimney of the first home.

Bar stools: Ikea

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At the home’s open floor plan, the kitchen joins to a hall/study area and the foyer at the front of the home.

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The family uses the deck off the kitchen and dining room for entertaining during warmer months. All the decking is made from Western red cedar, which naturally turns a soft grey and complements the zinc outside that wraps the home.

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The easy, clean lines of the bathroom are enhanced by a round stainless steel base sink on a slab of granite, plus a whirlpool faucet and soap dispenser fromKohler.

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Robert designed and built the foyer window to give the impression of frozen crystal. Plastic champagne glasses are stacked between a double-pane window on the outside and a single-pane window on the inside. His inspiration came in an exhibit at the 2000 World Expo in Hanover, Germany. There a church made from glass panes included found items such as feathers, pinecones, lightbulbs and more involving the panels.

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All the walls in the home are smooth-finish plaster coated with a nonyellowing decorator varnish to provide them a subtly textured, rustic appearance. A kimono with an embroidered poem hanging on the wall was a gift to Gail from Robert’s brother.

Hanging pole: Home Depot

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Robert designed and constructed this two-story display case with glass and aluminum. These stairs lead down to the bedroom amount, the home’s first first narrative.

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The semifloating staircase is attached into the display case on the left and right fastened with a pressure cable on the best. Aluminum rods installed between each stair tread to match building safety codes add an intriguing visual layout element. This is the view from the bedroom degree to the basement level, which is a work in progress.

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The main bedroom is minimalist in its own furnishings to allow for a focus on the surrounding woodland views.

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The deck off the bedroom package is used for reading, bird-watching and relaxing. More than 250 species of birds migrate through the surrounding woods. A corrugated metal roof above extends out marginally so water does not drain from above on the deck.

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The main bathroom includes budget-friendly neutral cabinet doors from Ikea. The heat and domestic hot water are provided by a tankless water heater with a Superstor isolation tank.

Mechanical: RER Gas Service

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Here is the perspective of the rear of the home. The stonework is a stone wall and a fire pit.

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Gail and Robert Karn, shown here, are founders of the nonprofit http://www.ciao-cfsu.org”>Center for Sustainable Urbanism and run a program named CIAO! (Center for Introduction to Architecture Overseas) based near Rome, Italy, for high school students considering the “constructed” world.

“The key strategy was to capture and maximize the benefits of the natural, physical and built environment to decrease the artificial impact,” Robert says. “We did so by constructing a small, easy, inexpensive-to-maintain home that is dramatic, disguising its compactness.”

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