OTG HOMES
Beautiful views of the Santa Ynez Mountains through floor-to-ceiling glass walls extend through the great room to the kitchen. An eye-catching wood pelican light fixture over the kitchen island was carved by Santa Barbara craftsman Danny Smith of Wood Reflections. “These fit the owners’ theme of celebrating the nature and wildlife of the Central Coast setting,” Mendro says. The kitchen countertops are blue-gray Lagos Azul limestone, and the custom cabinets and shelving are kiln-dried Douglas fir.
The curved roof played a big part in the design of the interior space, resulting in a unique ceiling. “The curved roof creates some wonderful, spacious volumes inside with the added texture of the exposed Douglas fir stained beams,” Mendro says. The expanse of sliding glass doors faces south and opens to a large outdoor patio with a gas fire pit and dining area beneath oak trees. “The irregular flagstone floors on the interior flow seamlessly to the patio, further blurring the line between indoors and outdoors, and bringing nature inside,” Mendro says.
The curved roof played a big part in the design of the interior space, resulting in a unique ceiling. “The curved roof creates some wonderful, spacious volumes inside with the added texture of the exposed Douglas fir stained beams,” Mendro says. The expanse of sliding glass doors faces south and opens to a large outdoor patio with a gas fire pit and dining area beneath oak trees. “The irregular flagstone floors on the interior flow seamlessly to the patio, further blurring the line between indoors and outdoors, and bringing nature inside,” Mendro says.
How this might actually work In the home-buying process, this metric will be used at the stage right after prequalifying. For example, a buyer qualifies for a $200,000 loan. What that really means is her income allows her to spend $950/month at 4 percent for 30 years. Enter an energy metric. The real cost to own this example home includes taxes ($200/month), insurance ($100/month), and utilities ($200/month). So what you’re really looking at is about $1450/month, including all costs. This ignores maintenance costs for now. What if one of the homes being compared is net-zero after solar panels and a home performance upgrade? Now utilities are only $35/month for meter fees. That frees up $165/month out of the $1450. That $165/month at 4 percent is $22,000 over 15 years, or $34,000 over 30 years. That means a house with those energy bills versus a comparable home is likely to be worth $20,000 to $35,000 more than its competitors. It could be worth more because a home like that is likely to have fewer maintenance issues, since efficient homes usually have lower air-leakage rates, and lower air leakage typically leads to fewer moisture problems. That’s for the market to decide. Rig...
Cherokee flagstone flooring continues from the house to the outside patio, which was created to provide both sunny and shaded areas among natural boulders and oak trees.
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