I've recently been mapping out our family future, where we want to be, etc. And of course this includes ideas that range from finishing my career teaching, to a trans-Siberian railway trip and visit to Lake Baikal. But it also includes the desire to design and build our own home, something reasonable in size, cozy, utilitarian, green (from an economic return standpoint especially) and somewhat self-sustaining. I would be quite interested in never having to worry about things like sump pumps and power ever again! Amy and I love the Craftsman style homes, but it is difficult to find options there that aren't extremely outdated (they were originally a Sears-Craftsman catalog item).
I love homes and buildings that have open layouts that bring the family together and lots of light. I love the European buildings with floor to ceiling windows that run along a whole wall because it adds so much light in. But I typically hate modern, flat-roof homes that are too eclectic in design and look like a stack of cardboard boxes from the outside.
I came across an ad in the Frankfurt airport for Huf Haus that better typifies my desires. What caught my eye first was the obvious play towards my father with a hanger and home together.
But I love the concept. They mix timber-frame architecture with sustainable features in an open-layout home, mixing glass and timber appropriately. Each house is custom designed to fit your desires, and they even help you design elements in the home too (like an edgier Toll Brothers home minus the community). I don't love all the homes, but incorporating some Craftsman or Prairie like designs could work easily.
Their latest creation, the Huf Haus 9, creates a completely self-sustaining home with a solar roof. Add in things like rainwater harvesting, greywater capture, hydronic heating (in the floor), and window blinds (maybe in the windows) for Amy and we're set!!
And best of all, when you design you get to go to their villages (one in Germany one in Cincinnati) and for 2-3 days pick out everything you want. Only takes 3-4 months to build too. I'm sold.
Check it out here: Huf Haus
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