After reading about Lara's trip to the Utah House, we decided to check it out in person. Do you know what we discovered? It's been around for four years - FOUR YEARS and we never even knew about it. So, thank you Lara for putting us in the know. (She's talkin' bout baby chicks today)
Unfortunately, we went on an overcast day and the tour guide did not turn on the lights, because the whole point of the house is - hello, look how flush with natural lighting it is! Only a handful the pictures (of the 75) I took turned out. I must go back on bright, sunny day. The kitchen was huge and amazing, not to mention the laundry/mud room.
This window lets in the winter sun to warm the floor and subsequently, the house. There is only one west facing window and it has a 12 foot overhang so the hot afternoon sun never reaches the interior of the home.
It has a metal roof and those dark strips are actually solar panels and you cannot see them or the solar water heater from the front of the house. The windows along the roofline let in all kinds of natural light to a
clerestory tower to light the core of the home.
And how cool is this garden? All the beds are wheelchair height and have a special rock/paver system that wheelchairs can get traction on.
The landscaping was equally impressive, but I'm afraid my shaking hands (hyperthyroidism) blurred most of the pictures. I'm definitely going back - with a tripod.
And, in the spirit of letting more light into our home, we scraped off the reflective tint from the kitchen window. The left pane still has it on, the right pane has been scraped off, can you see the difference? The kitchen no longer feels like a cave and those trees help it to feel cooler.
We planted our bell and hot peppers, three different squashes, rosemary, thyme, cukes, and more petunias. We also gave Ty a flat-top haircut, and except for that one close 'shave' it looks pretty darn good for a haircut on a moving target.
I can't believe how fast this weekend got away from us. Next weekend - roses!
