Burnett Solar House

A family of 4 spent two years sailing around the word in a 48’ sailboat. Alone. When they built their home, they decided it should be solar powered, environmentally sensitive and respond to the many lessons they learned while at sea and on a stringent budget. They chose an irregular site in a typical 50’s residential neighborhood where the frontage street parallels the site and then turns abruptly, such that the house terminates the street axis. The architects sought to celebrate this unusual street condition with a tower terminating the street. Perpendicular to that street, parallel to the house, the house reinforces the street corridor with a flat façade. At the top of the tower, a hatch and ship’s ladder enables stack effect cooling while referring back to the family’s sea-bound passion and providing opportunities to keep their eyes on the horizon. Immediately adjacent to the site, a walking path connects the elementary school to the south with the neighborhood. Preserving and reinforcing this “bridal path” while rendering privacy to the house served as an additional form generator. This home utilizes traditional design methodologies and “farm simple” ideals to create a successful and efficient unapologetically modern house.