One of a kind sustainable construction project
This weekend was full of anticipation and completed, what could be called “full-circle-excitement come to fruition” for those who have been keeping tabs on the GreenSpur construction team. Not so long ago, I brought word to you about the incredible opportunity that Mark Turner and his concept team were working on regarding a fully sustainable, green-built home constructed of Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPS) and reclaimed materials.
This project is the first of its kind and is hopefully going to be one of many that will be replicated internationally as a model of sustainable construction that meets the needs of a true nest.
Flying into the Nest
Minimalism, with a true rustic elegance is what you find peering out at you as you make your way up the steep, curving drive to the Delaplane OneNest home set atop a perfect hill overlooking the foothills of the Shenandoah mountains. It is almost as if someone has called in the gentle fog to hover just at the top of the treeline for intrigue, mystery and sultry ambiance to pull you into the site. Recall those mystical tendrils of smoke that lure… that is what pulls you here…to something new and exciting.
Before you get to the site, strategically placed communal fire pits with site-found logs are hissing, popping and generating that delightful campfire smell and then there is that house. With the elevation of a classic barn marrying a contemporary sanctuary, OneNest sits there among newly planted native river-birch trees, nestled in yet peeking out. The patina of the tin a deliberate match to the brick-red rust of the seamed and painted hardi-plank that covers the SIPS.
The standing seam metal roof line is a delicate yet masculine balance to the reclaimed history that is woven into this home through the use of wood paneling straight from past cabin quarters of the John Marshall property. The facade wouldn’t be complete without the mirror image of floor to ceiling windows flanking a steeple like fireplace that is masoned in stone harvested directly from the site. Usable porches galore. Panoramic views of the fog rolling on and on across the pits and valleys of the foothills while the cows come home. A matching barn is just beyond the main house that has an awning wide enough for a classic riding tractor. Classic is right. This is just the exterior.
Getting Cozy on the inside
Delivering more inside, OneNest’s vaulted ceilings are welcoming and open, leaving one to be baffled by the thought that this space is one-thousand square feet. It could be thousands more; the trompe l’oeil affect of the grande windows to the view beyond pulls the eye out and into the distance. The living room has very functional usable built-ins and is open to the stunning kitchen with a wonderful amount of storage. The fantastic use of counterbalanced Connecticut-style pull down lanterns is just one more ‘trick of the eye’ and fun for the gorgeous space and means to draw the eye up to the loft space above which is the master suite.
Past the kitchen, a full bath, well appointed and glowing is to the left, and storage to the right. Beyond that, windows, again floor to ceiling brighten the space and pull in the outdoors while highlighting the spiral staircases to go up and up into the nest. Before heading up, a nosy poke into the crawl space reveals some more smart design, wine-cellar in the crawl built from galvanized metal buckets and wine-racks; a good use of space in an otherwise unusable crawl!
The second floor is home to the lofted main bedroom, which has a lovely view of the great wide yonder and can be conveniently enclosed with thoughtful curtains; wrapped around the far right of the bedroom is a little nook- great for reading, a dog-friend or maybe some lovely indoor plants for creating a nice indoor air quality. The master spa-bath is impeccable with an egg-shaped soaker tub, walk-in shower complete with rain head and well, it is simple, yet stunning. Plus, there is a fireplace above the bath. Nice… I
n the central stairwell, up once again, the next level houses the guest room with incredibly functional use of space, reclaimed wood and a sumptuous bathroom which is just incredibly well done. This OneNest space is an unbelievable four stories of beautiful, reclaimed, green living space built to help the owner truly nest in, living in what they need.





Nesting as a Trend
Why OneNest? Business partner, Arian Lewis, stated “this is something that can be replicated in any country across the world. I’m currently talking with contacts in Malaysia to see about using our concept houses there.”
Lewis is the partner based out of the Oxford England team, who has been working on outreach to developing nations. These homes can be built anywhere. They are sustainable and don’t have to take up a lot of space or resources. Minimal or luxury finishes can be put into them and the product can be built an a relatively small amount of time.
Mark Turner, the brainchild behind GreenSpur and the OneNest project, said when asked what the biggest take away should be for the project, “Well, this was absolutely a labor of love and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I wanted to do something different that other builders weren’t doing and that would change the way things were being built in the construction industry.” He has proved it once before when he built a net-zero house on Capitol Hill, now he has done it again with the OneNest project’s first completed home, built in 100 days in Delaplane, VA.
Turner reminds us all that “OneNest is the context of everything in one world- a natural resting place.” Mark has also been quoted, “When I think about designing and building PLACE, I am inspired by Stegner’s quote, ‘There it was, there it is, the PLACE where during the best of our lives friendship had its home and happiness its headquarters.’ This 1000 SF OneNest Project is our team’s best attempt to capture this spirit. We are using radical approaches in design, materials and building science to capture that simple notion that we all universally yearn for: ‘happiness its headquarters.'” I love this about this team, they are so grounded in their since of duty to balance and harmony with nature, life and the elements.
What is Next for OneNest
Looking at their mission, Delaplane was a lovely place to select for the first part of this project’s journey. Just off of John Marshall Highway in historic wine country, this may be an idealistic “happiness headquarters.” The first OneNest will be open for extended stays as well as events for the next six months to continue to the conversation within the community and beyond about this intriguing and passionate design and building concept.
Where do you think we’ll see more of these beautiful, sustainable creations across the States and internationally? Start the conversation by making the visit.
Nick Sweeney, DotLoop Social Media
March 9, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Great post, Jonathan. I think you hit the nail on the head with that first sentence in the third paragraph: “It’s all about money.”
I will have to disagree with you about the remainder of that paragraph, though – that bigger houses are easier to fall in love with. As an owner of a bungalow (704 square feet) built in the 1920s, I can say for certain that huge homes are not easy for me to fall in love with. Every time I visit a huge home, I can only think of the upkeep and the time spent cleaning all twenty rooms.
I have written about smaller homes on the DotLoop blog (dotloop.blogspot.com/2010/01/small-homes-why-less-is-more.html and dotloop.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-would-thoreau-build.html), and, while I obviously am a big fan of smaller homes myself, I don’t agree with forcing people to build small.
The reason is simple: you can’t legislate morality. As you said in the first paragraph, Americans live in a consumption-based society. Until we change that underlying issue, we can’t force people to build smaller homes.
Of course, the other question remains, with 18.6 million empty homes (that’s 5 and 1/3 for every homeless person in America), why are we building new homes to begin with?
I love the thoughtful post. Keep it up!
Jonathan Benya
March 10, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Why do you feel that bigger homes aren’t easy for people to fall in love with? As I mentioned in my article, I personally prefer smaller homes myself, but you have to ask yourself this: Why has the average family size shrunk in the last 50 years while the average home size has more than doubled? It’s not just some bizarre happenstance, people buy bigger than ever before, and there has to be a reason for it. It’s not necessity, people have lived in tighter quarters historically, so the only other reason I can see is because people (generally speaking) like bigger homes. What you and I would prefer has nothing to do with it.
This isn’t an issue of legislating morality. We’re not talking about setting max home sizes or forcing people to buy small. This is really about legislating fiscal responsibility (or lack thereof). If you force people to buy more home than they need (which is what a 1,650 s.f. minimum does), you’re infringing on civil liberties and essentially extorting the homeowner to pay for size that they may not want or need.
Brandie Young
March 9, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Hi Jonathan,
I had no idea there was a legally mandated minimum home size! So, for clarification – if I own a piece of land in your county, and decided to build the 500 sf hut of my dreams, I’d be shut down?
Thanks for the lesson.
Jonathan Benya
March 9, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Yep, the only exception would be if it were in a “major” subdivision, and less than 10% of the homes built were below the minimum. If that were the case, you could get away with 1,250 s.f. either way, a 500 s.f. would only be a pipe dream!
granthammond
March 9, 2010 at 9:46 pm
I can certainly see a subdivision’s master deed limited the size, minimum and maximum, but I’m not so sure that’s a practice our government should be engaging within. What ever happened to a free market economy anyway?
Sam Chapman
March 10, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Get out of the city and stay away from heavily restricted subdivisions. I put a 1289 sf to be built in Apache Shores on the market and got 4 great calls on it within days. One was to have brought an offer, but she couldn’t qualify for a loan. Another guy has 3 small to be builts just on the market in Apache Shores and is already negotiating a contract for one. In an area like this with great schools and almost no new construction for less than around $190,000, smaller plans do sell.
Jonathan Benya
March 10, 2010 at 3:34 pm
That doesn’t necessarily matter. Take my area as an example, my county would be considered 50% suburban, 50% rural. Doesn’t matter where you wanted to build that 1289 sf home, you couldn’t build it in my county. This is why government legislation of home sizes shouldn’t be happening. It’s one thing for a community or developer to mandate what gets built on the lots he owns/sells, but it’s another for the entire county to have government mandated restrictions
Ken Montville
March 10, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Jonathan, you miserable slut… Ooops. This isn’t a political blog post.
Seriously, It’s a shame that the County feels it needs tax revenue so bad that they mandate home size. However, there are smaller footprints. It’s called a townhouse or a condo. Both of which I think they have in Waldorf and LaPlata, if not elsewhere in Charles County.
That being said, most consumers I know that look at small places are always complaining about the size of the bedrooms or the lack of closet space/storage or this or that. By mandating a certain minimum size you can assure that houses are going to sell and not sit around.
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April 18, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I completely agree, with one minor exception: I don’t think a minimum square foot requirement is economic segregation by design, but rather, a consequence. In any case, I agree that such restrictions skew the market and create an unnecessary rift between those who can afford them and those who either cannot afford them or don’t need them.