This Northern Lights 3 has a similar foot print as our original
Northern Lights featured in several magazines. It is still a relatively
simple home to build with a wonderfully open character and the front is
designed to face north.
First Floor
The north front porch wraps around to a porch on the entire east side
of the house. Two sets of French doors open to the dining and sunroom
corner on the southeast. The floor plan features a permanent stairs up
to the large attic and many other convenient elements. The corner breakfast/sunroom
is sure to become a favorite spot.
Garage
The garage is attached to the front of the home on the northeast corner.
The doors could be moved to the front of the house on tight lots.
Construction Info
The great room, kitchen, and sunroom are still vaulted, but now the ceilings
in the bedroom areas are 9'. The roof can still be framed with trusses.
This house is designed for the exterior walls to be constructed with ICFs
(insulated concrete forms), but SIPs (structural insulated panels) or
stud framed walls could be substituted. With the ICF walls extended down
to the frost line, a concrete floor slab can be poured even in colder
climates. This allows the concrete floor slab on the south side of the
home to act as the thermal mass of the house when covered with materials
such as ceramic tile, brick pavers, or stone.
Modification Ideas
Since these ideas may affect energy performance and structural integrity,
they should only be undertaken with professional assistance.
Change the exterior to be constructed stucco (like the homeowner did
in the photos)
Detach the garage and make the porch go all the way across the front
Want to study this sun-inspired house design?
Read more about
the drawings available for various Sun Plans.
Ready to build this house plan?
For this plan, the following are included:
Schematic Site Plan
Slab On Grade Foundation Plan
Floor Plan including garage
Exterior Elevations (all four sides in detail)
Building Section (section cut including an interior view)
Kitchen Elevations
Typical Wall Section
Schematic Roof Framing Plan
Schematic Electrical Plan
Custom Energy Specs that describe any
recommended adaptations for your climate – insulation values, glass type for
the various windows, overhang lengths.
Here a few comments from the home owners:
Northern Lights 3 (modified), Victor & Regina, Latitude 42º North, IRC
Climate Zone 14
"We are enjoying our new home. It is so comfortable! It's a little
hard to judge the energy costs based on this mild winter, but thus far,
we seem to be doing quite w ell. We only ran the air conditioning 3 or
4 times the whole summer and that was primarily due to humidity." The
outside is a creative mix of colorful stucco and a green metal roof."
(The stucco was a change made during construction from the cement board
siding originally planned. Trees still need to be cleared from the south
for better solar gain. Often we recommend clients go through one heating
and cooling season to see the actual shade patterns on the house first.)
The photos were taken by Victor and Regina and we thank them for sharing
them with us.
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