(Christine Nesheim)
LUXURY LIFESTYLES: Designing from the Inside Out
A home positioned, designed, built and furnished for our times
Virge and Brett Temme live in a home that reflects their values as well as their talents.
The 1,700 square foot, two bedroom and two bathroom home sits in rural Sturgeon Bay. Perfect placement on the 1.5-acre lot makes passive solar heating possible. And the natural views of open land to the south and tall pine trees to the north nourish the homeowners’ souls, Virge said.
“We fell in love with the views and with the site. The house is sited exactly 12 degrees off south, which is perfect for passive solar. And it is so quiet out here,” she said.
She is a sustainable designer and green home architect. Her husband is a building inspector with Independent Inspections, Waukesha. The couple discovered the rural property in 2002 after living in downtown Sturgeon Bay for five years.
“Within two to three hours of seeing this, I fleshed out a plan and realized that ‘yes; we could make it work,’” Virge said.
The work involved tearing down an existing home on the land and erecting -- on the same footprint in 2003 -- a new home that’s green in its design, systems, and materials. Brett, who built the home, took a break, and then kitchen and home office (Virge Temme Architecture) additions emerged in 2007 and 2009.
Green Design
European Arts and Crafts architecture inspired the architect’s design of the couple’s home. So, too, did Japanese philosophy, which suggests to her the importance of designing from the inside out, as opposed to from the outside in.
“You pick the views you want to look at, because that is what your soul responds to,” Virge said.
The two-level home gives the Temmes the space they and need and not so much more.
Big foyer? Not here. The home’s entryway leads into its living room, which has a tasteful decorating scheme — a blend of modern comfort and Asian elegance. For example, there’s a black leather sofa, discovered at Maxwell’s House, Egg Harbor, and Asian antiques - -a Japanese chest and Korean wedding chest from Linden Gallery, Ellison Bay
Looking for a spacious laundry room? That would be the closet in the lower-level bathroom. It holds a full-size washer and dryer in its intimate 10 square feet.
Even structural elements are not wasted; they are transformed into places for storage instead. A stairway’s support has built-in bookshelves, for instance. A hallway from the dining room to the kitchen is another place for shelves and storage, instead of being a passive pass-through area.
Also compelling, is the use of space in the couple’s upper-level master bedroom. It’s 13 feet by 13 feet; smaller in comparison to master suites in many new homes today. But the Temme master bedroom is big enough to fit a king-size bed, flanked by two nightstands. There’s a Stickley sideboard repurposed as a blanket cabinet and a century-old oak desk and chairs in the room, too.
“The house is very economical space-wise. It is a compact house. It has no waste in it,” Virge said.
Brett added, “It feels very comfortable. It’s a nice space to live in, and for two people, it is more than adequate.”
Energy Savings
The home does not waste energy either. Supplementing passive solar gain is a forced air furnace with air heat pumps. The alternative to gas energy has cut about 35% of heating costs.
A high efficiency wood fireplace in the living room and a pellet stove in the home office/four-season room provide extra heating when absolutely necessary.
“We don’t use wood any more — unless during the very cold days, because we are concerned about carbon emissions,” Virge said.
The couple has determined their carbon footprint to be considerably smaller than the average U.S. resident: 7.94 metric tons per person, versus 20.
“And the water heater is only activated twice daily — just to heat the water up, and it turns off. Twenty-five percent of most people’s heating cost is their water heater. And the fact that ours is off most of the time really drives our energy down,” she continued.
When the microwave, television and stereo are not in use, electricity to them is shut down, as well. By touching the power strip connected to the microwave or flipping the switch in the living room, Virge said she gets power going only when she needs it. She said new technology -- a master switch or override switch -- makes it even easier for homeowners to keep electronics on standby.
The home is lit by compact florescent, halogen or LED lighting. There are abundant windows and skylights (in the master suite), infusing natural light into the home and eliminating the need for the electrical lighting during the day.
Why did the Temmes make these choices and others? A sustainable lifestyle is consistent with the couple’s long-time beliefs. And they would not consider designing or building a home in a different way, Virge said.
“We have believed in this for years. One of the most important things a person can do with their home is realize it is not just about your own home. It is about your home in the world, too,” she said.
Sustainable and Tasteful Finishes
Attractive eco finishes contribute to this philosophy as well.
The home has bamboo flooring throughout, save for the living room, which has stained concrete (also affording thermal mass for passive solar heating). Brett also used stained concrete in the home office/four-season room, while the bathrooms have porcelain tile.
“You have to put concrete down anyway. You might as well use it,” Virge said of their approach to minimize construction materials where possible.
Cabinets in the kitchen and master bathroom are maple, and the large-scale island is topped by Forest Stewardship Council-certified bamboo. Other kitchen countertops are concrete. So is master bathroom sink and countertop; they were crafted by Dylan Lauger of Lauger Concrete.
Outdoor Beauty
As to plans for the home, Virge pointed to the outdoors, where the couple intends to complete a greenhouse in 2010. It will make their already ambitious growing of vegetables a year-round affair.
The 2,000 square-foot edible landscape includes a vegetable garden, herb garden and small orchard. Abundant berries grow here, too, and bees provide honey.
And downspouts from the home’s metal roof direct rainwater to underground piping. Backyard ponds are replenished, and a 1,200-gallon rainwater cistern irrigates the vegetable garden.
“It is literally working for us,” Virge said.
Donna Marie Pocius, an Egg Harbor-based freelance writer, writes about decorating and other topics. Suggest a photogenic home to her for a possible story in Luxury Homes of Door County Magazine,
donnamarie@dcwis.com.
