Building a Modern, Reasonably Green, Home

Close to moving in

2009-10-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

The last few days saw the installation of the garage door; the completion of the eaves and fascia metal; and the hanging of outdoor lighting fixtures. Also all appliance installation and the final plumbing work, the installation of two toilets.

Internal painting continues, as done the final cabinetry work as the fridge/freezer and the dishwasher will have cabinet wood fronts.

Move-in is scheduled for Oct 22!!

Note the starburst "dingbat" -- the name given to such elements on mid-century modern houses and apartments. Ours lights up at night. Also the roof's "wings" are now fully finished in the brown metal.

The new light fitting in the porch was sourced in Palm Springs and is in a style often seen on mid-century modern houses.

The garage door -- powder coated in the orangey color that was also used in the porch.

Slowly but surely

2009-09-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

Nine weeks since the last post which has friends and relatives rightly complaining as they want to know what is happening. No excuses but a lot of distractions related to both getting this house completed and listing our current house. So we have not been pushing our contractor as much as we might, as we want to continue to show the current house furnished as long as possible. Plus we kept forgetting to take the camera when we go up to the new house, which is 40 mins away.

So a quick list of what has been happening:
All external hardscape finished including the patio area outside the slider wall and the floating steps up to the front entrance.
All cabinets installed and stained on site.
All sinks installed in kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms.
A 12' x 6' deck which webuilt, using Trex, outside the Master Bedroom.
Most of the fascia and eaves metal (in dark chocolate brown) has been installed.
Rough landscaping of the garden areas and the front and back parkways -- the latter owned by the city but which we will be landscaping with low water plantings to replace the weed-ridden grass that was there.

Examples of the custom cabinetry with its Espresso stain.
The in-hall linen closet.

A niche at the end of the hall for displaying various "objects." Also that's one of the three operable (using a remote) skylights

The living room fireplace which has a gas built-in. Note the concrete floors which be cleaned and sealed shortly.

The next two weeks will see both painters and electricians in at various times and the arrival of our garage door. This is the same "orangey" color as the porch and we had to send the first shipment back as the powder coated finish had been scratched.

Final windows going in, plus cabinetry has arrived

2009-06-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

If you looked closely at the end view photo in the Fencing post you will have noted the rectangular clerestory window frames at the end of the house. The triangular shaped frames, at each end of the house, were also installed in the last two weeks.

Also note the cabinet boxes in that last shot, part of the custom cabinetry delivery, some of which is now installed in the kitchen. The rest, for the hallway and bathrooms, will wait until after painting.

Fencing

2009-06-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

The nature of our lot means 400' of fencing and we had considered lots of options to try and keep the cost down and have no, or low, maintenance. We finally settled for HardiePlank, a cement board product normally used for siding, which cost around 30% of the lowest cost wood options. So, even allowing for the fact that it needs more of a framework, because it's thinner and more flexible than wood, it meant considerable savings.

Note that the Hardie folks do not endorse it used this way but you see the larger sheets of HardieBoard used in many ways on fences in Venice, CA and it's very durable as many of those fences have not been painted.

We had the builder's guys build the framework, which P then spent 3 days painting with a solid stain. Then P, along with a good friend and another helper, spent another 3 days hanging the boards. As you can see, these are hung horizontal and the design optimizes their 12' lengths whenever possible, plus the fact you can purchase a range of widths.

The planks come primed on one side and we elected to hang that side inside with a view to painting the outside. However, we have come to like the look, especially as the evenly spaced 6.25" planks have a different tone. So we now plan to use a clear masonary sealer.

This photo also shows one of the six /\ shaped setbacks in the fence where will plant stuff in front.

A view from the end with the triangle capped off, a code requirement to ensure traffic sightlines where the streets meet. In fact we set it back further than needed and plan to put a small tree in front of the external side.

An elevated interior view of the garden, showing the framework.

Lots of activity on internal & external wall surfaces

2009-05-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Drywall is up on most surfaces and the fireplace has its first coat of stucco.

Kichen walls are done and metal edging has started, plus the rear wall is prepared for tile.

The first of three stucco coats, this one known as the scratch coat, goes on.

Solar Panels are Installed

2009-04-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

The selected vendor, SolarCity, installed the 4.5 KW system, which is sized to supply all of our electrical needs -- building up credit in sunny times, that we will then use in those less sunny times.

Given this is our "last house," the math on the investment was easy, particularly as the rebates -- an immediate 24% back from the local utility and then a further 30% tax rebate at the end of the year -- basically halve the price.

Mounting racks are set up

Panels are prepared

Then mounted

Panels are angled at just 5% for aesthetic reasons, so they cannot be seen from the street -- resulting in a slight reduction in efficiency. Also the boxy item is one of three skylights, its sill raised to ensure the panels are not seen when looking up,

Now the house is really green!

2009-04-18T10:35:00.001-07:00

A Tyvek-type house wrap, chosen by our builder because of its breathable and "self-healing" properties, in that if penetrated accidentally, the hole self-heals.

So, externally, the stucco guys are next, but they will wait until the interior wall board is hung next week, so there is no risk of wall vibration while the stucco sets.

Also, bathrooms are now being tiled and the site prepared for the hardscape elements -- patio, barbecue area, fountain pad and fire pit pad.

The final roof goes on

2009-04-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Using a product that mainly been used in commercial applications but is now being used on residential for it's low maintenance, long life and cooler roof attributes. The thermoplastic membrane is laid on top of fireproof decking that is part of the process.

"The Duro-Last flashings and deck sheets are custom prefabricated, which makes for easy installation. Approximately 80-85% of the roof seaming is completed in a controlled factory environment at one of the Duro-Last plants, ensuring high product quality. In addition, there are no hazardous chemicals, vapors or messy kettles to deal with during installation."

http://www.duro-last.com/generalContent/residential.asp

This product also ensures watertight sealing around those many solar panel legs.

Now wall boarding can start this week and the stucco guys have already started preparing the exterior walls.

Doors now installed

2009-03-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

The four panels -- two fixed and two sliding -- in the living room.

The front pivot-style door, and matching window in the porch that brings light into inner hallway at one end of the kitchen -- both using milk glass. Note the door rail/handle that seems to float in the glass.

Door from the kitchen into the rear garden. Space above is for the triangular shaped clerestory windows.

Next photos show the detailed work necessary before drywall can be hung. The first is the living room ceiling showing lights, speaker enclosures and the sprinklers -- the latter a Culver City requirement (costing $10,000!) for new construction.

The freestanding wall between the kitchen and dining space, with an opening cut more for the view. J wanted to ensure that is not a serving hatch, so it will not even have a shelf! Note the amount of wiring running through the walls.

Even the smaller details get attention, like the mailbox (naturally in the same metal finish as the windows) and the cat door in the TV room.

Lot's of activity, much of it internal

2009-02-21T15:37:00.001-08:00

10+ weeks since the last post, partly because of the holidays but also waiting for more "photo opportunities" that would show progress. The obvious lesson learned here is that building sites do not always provide "good" photo opps and one needs to show whatever is happening, such as the clutter of the wood scaffold system shown in this photo, which was built to allow access to, and completion of, the clerestories and eaves.

This view is through the kitchen/dining room wall, which will have an 8' wide opening. Note the gas fire is now installed on the right side.

The other most visual sign of progress is the beginning of window installation -- double glazed with aluminum frames -- along with three skylights in the internal hallway. All windows having a screened operable 18" high section at the top to facilitate ventilation. The windows in the clerestories, along with glass doors (main entry and one each out of the kitchen and master bedroom) are now being built as their measurements were not taken until framing was complete.

This photo also showing the gutter system which will be invisible when the eaves are finished, drainage happening through pipes embedded in the walls. The fascia and eaves were closed in this week and will now be faced with a colored metal.

Other activities in this period were:
- Concrete work to create the new driveway apron as close off the old one, as we reversed the house frontage -- which also included new sidewalk sections.
- Most electrical work, so all in-ceiling lights now in, ready for wallboard, along with in-ceiling speakers in the living room. Also all outlets and switches.
- The necessary plumbing before wallboard.

We also spent a lot of time "locking down" such elements as the the kitchen layout, the garage door (including picking a color for powder coating,) the entry way steps and the tile layouts.

The "official" timeline has seven more weeks and our builder feels that we should make it in about nine. We shall see.

Roofing Starts

2008-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

The central flat section is fully covered by the first layer of plywood, temporarily covered with plastic. This view of the entry, with the "front door" being on the right.

A large support beam, for the sloped sections over the living/dining space, goes up next. The rafters are then run from the steel, across that beam, down to the flat roof.

The emerging triangular space between the roof line and top pf the wall is where clerestory windows will go. That single piece of wood, taking the slope further out, shows the the depth of the planned roof overhang (or eaves.)

Interior Walls and Roof Beams

2008-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Interior walls, including the garage, are now framed out.

Roof beams of engineered lumber start to go up.

The walls start to go up

2008-10-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

The first wall is the "burnished" block "feature wall." It, along with the steel framework on the other two sides, will support the clerestory windows in a the sloped roof.

The rest of the external walls are SIPs (structurally engineered panels) a sandwich of strandboard and foam insulation. Note the the pre-drilled runs for electrics etc.

The 9' 6" high SIPs are mounted on 2 x 4 floor plates, nailed along those edges, and then vertically connected with a 4" wide "bridge SIP" which is screwed through on each edge. The tops are then connected horizontally with bridging 2 x 4's. The SIPS are also sequenced to allow a 2 x 4 insert in the vertical edge wherever an internal wall will run 90 degrees from it. Window openings will be cut in later.

Note the floor plates for the internal walls, which will be conventional 2 x 4 framing, as that allows easier access for most of the plumbing.

Radiant Heating Install and Slab Pour

2008-10-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

A busy three days this week, that firstly saw the completion of the radiant heat installation.

Then the pouring of the concrete slab, which will be our selected floor in several parts of the house, after more finishing and polishing.

Foundations and the first vertical elements

2008-10-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

September saw all the foundation work finished and the steel work being installed. These pieces, one at each end of the house, will support the upward slops of the butterfly-style roof, with the top openings holding the clerestory windows.

The one in the photo will be at the end of our living room and will also contain a 20 feet wall of glass, with the center 10 feet being sliders that will open on to the patio.

As I write this, the radiant floor heating is being installed and the slab will be poured this week.

The Build finally starts

2008-08-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last week saw actual build activity in that the footings were dug. Now it's starting to feel we are making progress.
The first picture shows the fully compacted site -- those strange markings coming from the compacting roller on the left.
The second shows the footings awaiting inspection before the form work can be built for the foundation walls.

And we thought soil was just soil

2008-07-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

Once the site was cleared, our builder raised some questions about the nature of the soil, given our plans.

We were obviously aware that the center of the site was higher than the sidewalk (formally validated by a survey) and our design took advantage of this to provide interesting steps up to the front door. We also wanted to ensure the sliders out to the patio did not require a step down, so the house is designed on two levels, with the kitchen and dining/living area being 1 foot lower than the rest, something which cannot be seen from the outside. To achieve this, we knew we would need some soil to be taken out.

Our builders concerns related to the nature of the soil -- '' a lot of organic matter" -- and why our lot had that "domed" perspective when the others nearby did not. So he suggested a soil test, which involves soil engineers drilling and taking core samples. The results were not good for a slab-based house, particularly one in an earthquake zone, and were advised to have the soil compacted.

This involved his folks, using special rented machines, digging out the soil and recompacting back in layers, with the soil engineers retesting at each stage. A costly, non-budgetted, item which added 4-5 weeks to the timeline.

This picture illustrates what went on. We gather that the neighbors thought were building a basement!

Demo and site prep

2008-05-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the demolition -- note the cut-down trees, which were diseased Eucalyptuses. Several neighbors later commented they were glad these had gone as they were always shedding and made the whole area look messy.

Also, the first photo's perspective makes the site look a lot narrower than it is.

Obtaining planning permission

2008-05-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our plans were finally submitted at the end of March -- about a month later than we had hoped -- and while Culver City states 10 business days for review, there was inevitably some "back and forth" and then a delay because of our patio cover plans.

This came about because the covered patio "structure" intrudes into the setback area on the house frontage street and we had assumed that this would not be of concern because it would be behind a fence. So we had to submit some supporting documentation related to why we need to do this because of our triangular lot.

So it was mid-May before we were finally signed off and folks who are experienced in this stuff tell us that getting it in 6 weeks was still really fast.

Key decisions within the design details

2008-01-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Once you get into the design details, you make numerous decisions and we will not attempt to catalog them here. However, to provide a sense of what we saw as key to building a modern and green house, here are some examples:

While J wanted a kitchen that is not fully the "open plan" style seen in many modern homes, an acceptance of a design that partly opens the dining room/kitchen wall, with a horizontal "pass-through," plus this wall not going right up to to the sloping ceiling.
Aluminum framed windows and exterior doors, both for the look and for no maintenance. All windows and doors going to the ceiling line, again as part of the look.
Space-saving, in-wall pocket doors wherever feasible for the interior.
No air conditioning so a lot of attention to cross ventilation, facilitated by three center hallway, operable skylights and also an operable internal window above the bedroom doors near these skylights - which also provide more natural light into those areas.
The uses of structurally insulated panels (SIPS) for external walls, providing greater insulation and less waste from stick-frame construction. (Our builder had used these on a recent house.)

Developing the plan details: Lessons learned

2008-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Moving through the details of the design and plans was an interesting, sometimes frustrating, ride and we occasionally had to negotiate with our architect as to what we considered appropriate steps in the design process.

For example, our builder had provided a fairly detailed, line item estimate, based on recent houses using comparable materials and finishes. So, starting on the detailed design of windows and glass/metal framed exterior doors (W&Ds), we would check with him as to what assumptions he had made to get to his #. We would then use his #s to calculate the likely cost of the number and nature of our wish list of W&Ds.

In conversations with our architect about their number, placement, size and operability, we would then raise cost parameters and his responses left us feeling he was less cost sensitive than us. In discussing this, he defended his process as "you do not design to a budget" but develop your design and then cost it and "re-engineer" if necessary. Given we had that detailed, line item estimate/budget, we wanted to limit the number of costing and re-engineering steps. So we ended up "negotiating" a design process we could all live with.

So we offer the following counsel to anyone reading this with the intent of building their own home:

1. Have your architect articulate his/her design process, preferably with examples, from Day One and, if necessary, amend the process so you are all comfortable with it. Also, have a "process check" discussion every now and again.
2. Try to find a builder who'll provide a detailed, line item estimate/budget based on a "Preliminary Bid Instructions" package, to learn what the major cost drivers are. If some elements are not yet included, keep them on the list as pending, so you do not lose track of them.
3. Remember that the builder has made certain assumptions for each line item, so whenever you feel that your more detailed design and material choices for a particular element might be problematical, check with him/her.
4. Take full advantage of your builder's and/or architects access to current houses when you want to remind, or educate, yourself about what certain materials look like "in situ" or how certain things work, like the different window operability options. You never want to end up saying "I didn't know it would look, or work, like this!"

Selecting a Builder

2007-12-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Our architect provided a "Preliminary Bid Instructions" document, along with a copy of the final floor plan and P met with four builders, previously identified as ones with experience in building modern homes. All were asked to submit prelim. bids before the holidays and three did -- ranging from a brief one page -- X$ per sq ft. -- to quite detailed breakdowns of likely costs, including items we would purchase, such as appliances. The fourth never did offer a bid.

One bid, from the largest company of the four, was 25% more than the other two, so the choice was between two similar bids. One of these was from a builder with more "green" experience, so after one more visit to his most recent house -- including a walk-through with him, discussing choices and specs -- we elected to go with him.

So the start of 2008 has us us with an agreed design, a floor plan (which just needs a few tweaks,) and a builder. So now we start on the more detailed planning and permitting phase with target date to start the demolition and build no later than April 1, 2008

Final steps with the Design

2007-11-10T16:07:00.000-08:00

Our architect presented us with a revised roof line, given our concerns about how the "double butterfly" would allow a lot of light to enter all three bedrooms, as we like dark bedrooms for sleeping and do not want have to devise window coverings for angled windows. To help us consider this roof line and also the overall look of the house footprint, P. elected to build a rough model so we could move into three dimensions before we locked down this decision.

As can be seen, this still has the sloping roof elements at each end but a flat roof in the middle. So while the living/dining area on the left-side roof will have clerestory windows on three sides, the only clerestory windows in the right-side roof area will be over the garage, so none in the rear over the master bedroom area. We agreed that this would work for us and still give the house its "feature roof."

So the last steps in this phase are for our architect to provide us with the final floor plan and to develop a list that will help builders/GC's ballpark some prices.

Design Process: Step 2

2007-10-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Our architect presented his proposed design with site plan, floor plans, elevations and perspectives.

We had a very positive reaction to the overall design, which had double butterfly roof over the main, rectangular module. We also liked the idea of a block "feature wall" which he proposed to continue inside the house, showing the exposed block.

We then reviewed the floor plan and how our room wish-list had been accommodated and found we had everything (excluding the garage) in approx. 2550 square feet.

He then asked us to take some time to go over the proposal and we initially focused on our room size wish list -- rechecking why we arrived at such #s and and either getting comfortable with them or tweaking them.

We then reconsidered the house's double butterfly roof line and started to imagine ourselves in the rooms this covers.

Obviously, it will give us the high ceilings and light we want in the living/dining space but when we considered this in the rest of house it raised some questions. The first was how light would enter the smaller rooms like the laundry and the second bath. The second, more significant issue for us, was how much light would be entering all three bedrooms as we like dark bedrooms for sleeping and do not want have to devise window coverings for angled windows.

We decided to revisit this with our architect and seek advice on whether such a roof can work aesthetically if one chooses not to have glass in certain sections, or whether there are other roof designs that still give us a "feature roof" without so much natural light coming into the bedrooms.

Design Process: Step 1

2007-10-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Our architect asked for an initial 2 hr meeting to gain a good sense of our design preferences and the specific needs we want this house to meet – and that we should bring any relevant photos and anything else that would help.

We had prepared a wish list of desired rooms and their approximate sizes, in order to estimate the overall size of the house and also to get clear on what would be their min. and max. sq. footage. We had also found ourselves asking about, and noting, different room sizes as we toured the homes we looked at. Obviously he has to make all this fit together, so we need to be flexible, but the list was helpful as a basis for discussing our needs for this house.

The discussion beyond these more specific aspects was more intriguing as we sensed our architect wanted more specifics on our design choices -- beyond those house photos we had selected. So he asked us to comment on some pictures of elements of Palm Springs houses. Looking back, we feel we had possibly avoided getting too specific on design elements as we really want him have some freedom and potentially test us with ideas we may not have considered.

At our next meeting he will present “a freehand site plan, floor plans, elevations and perspectives,” as per his process.

Our green education

2007-10-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

After looking at the various houses and a lot of reading, what "green" started to mean to us was 1) the opportunity to build an efficient house, in terms of heating and cooling, thus making a green contribution, and 2) to also select other products and materials that are appropriately green.

The efficient aspect was easy, starting with the use of tankless water heaters and radiant floor heating. Optimization of natural cooling opportunities through window selection and placement was another obvious aspect. Next was achieving efficient heating and cooling through solar-generated electricity and solar-heated water, both of which we had seen in some houses. Given our site, solar electricity quickly emerged as a fairly obvious choice, particularly as our long term plans for this home allow return-on-investment models with longer periods.

An inevitable question with such equipment is where it will be placed, as we do not want our home to have "racks" and other hardware projecting above those flat and/or slightly sloping roofs. Fortunately, we learned that for our site's solar orientation the solar panels can be placed almost flat with only a 5% reduction in efficiency.

As to the selection of other products and materials that are green, our architect has experience in these areas, plus our reading and research continues.

Designs in line with emerging preferences

2007-10-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Two of these houses have different roof levels within the one structure, and some of those roofs also have some slope -- something that interests us as we had began to think of our house as two modules, one with the garage, bedrooms and bathrooms, and the other for living, dining and the kitchen. Two also have clerestory windows, with high ceilings, a common feature in modernist houses. Also their frontage is broken up by how certain aspects are set back, plus none of them have elements that we feel would look out of date in the future.

Given these preferences, we inevitably like the following house, from the portfolio of our chosen architect who had also satisfied our other criteria.

Our evolving preferences

2007-09-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

So we wanted "a modern, single-story house in the 2500 sq ft range" and now we were needing define what modern specifically meant to us. In addition, the architects' houses we had seen added to the list of what we liked and occasionally didn't like, in terms of overall design, key design elements, and interior finishes.

While such architects will (truthfully) tell you they can design all types of modern houses we inevitably saw preferences in design elements, such as how one favored horizontal wood elements on doors and balconies, while another favored metal for siding and to face garage doors. While we have often noted and liked houses that use such elements we were also conscious of some possibly looking out-of-date in the future -- and remember this is our "last house" which we hope to live in for a long time.

So it was back to looking at more house photos and the breakthrough came when J articulated that we wanted a modern home, with "mid-century modern" influences, that would look "timeless," such as many of the homes we had seen on our Palm Springs visits.

Remember, we are still not at the point of agreeing an actual design, but getting to the next level of direction -- to help us select, and then instruct the architect.

Finding/selecting an architect

2007-09-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

We wanted a modern architect, with experience on the LA west side and also with green aspects of home design and construction. So we went back through all our Dwell and Sunset back copies plus the literature from the modern house tours we had been on.

We next went through the Web sites of architects of interest, developing a list of eight that we contacted by email, asking them to meet us. Our email briefly described our goal and the initial meetings started at the site, as we wanted to observe their reactions to it .

In preparation, we developed an agenda, which evolved through our meetings, as we added to our knowledge, -- such as the importance of an architects access to, and relationship with, general contractors (GC) with experience of building in the modern style.

For us, the following criteria evolved and they determined our short-list and then the final selection:

Nature of the architects' work todate and how that fitted our (admittedly evolving) preferences.
The likely cost of of this type of work, based on more recent projects.
The quality of these recent projects, accepting a lot of that falls on the GC but trying to establish how the architect has influenced, or not influenced, this.
That amorphous thing called "chemistry," in terms how we would feel working with this person.

For the final four architects on our short-list we then asked to see examples of their current work "in the flesh," and ended up visiting at least 7 houses.

Pictures of our lot

2007-09-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

The original house, from the garden area in narrow point of the triangle. Also, from the street, which will be at the rear of the new house.

Then a street view of the lot from our "new street." and lastly a view looking down the triangle, which will be the view from our living area. Note no houses in sight!

Finding a buildable lot

2007-09-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

We purchased a tear-down/lot in Culver City, CA, in Sept, 07. It's triangular, being at the point of two angled, intersecting streets -- what the city calls a "through lot." We were attracted to it because neither street is a through street and we will have just one adjacent neighbor. In addition it's a ten min walk from downtown, important for our preferred lifestyle.

We envisaged a 2500 sq. ft., single story house with a two car garage -- so the key question became could be build it on such a lot?

While going through the offer/acceptance process we researched the city planning regulations, particularly the impact of applying the normal setback rules to this lot. We also had meetings in order to discuss the direction we wished to develop our house design. "Direction" is the key term here as no planning dept will approve a plan without going through the full planning process and yet we only had so much time before the "no going back" phase of our offer. This particular slide became key to illustrating that direction.

We found acceptance of this direction, hearing enough assurances that left us comfortable. One key assurance was that the city applies flexibility to lots like this as they exist because of how the streets were laid out.

We had also started interviewing architects at this point so those interviews became an additional sanity check on our direction.

Some background

2007-09-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

We retired to Southern California in late 2003, the location choice influenced by where our children live and the usual stuff about climate. We found ourselves in a hectic real estate market on LA's west side -- our preferred location -- not the ideal situation when you want the time for an architect to look at potential purchases and consult on a possible renovation or re-build.

So we moved further down the coast and continued to monitor the LA west side real estate, looking at many new houses over the years and also potential remodels. While not our original plan, this period was helpful as we became knowledgeable about SoCal's modernist history, through house tours, readings and several enjoyable visits to Palm Springs.

More and more we found ourselves feeling that we wanted to build a modern house from scratch.