Dash Landing Farmhouse

Photos

credits: Rob Karosis

Project Name

Dash Landing Farmhouse

A good house begins with good clients. They asked us to design an efficient, low maintenance, 2500 square feet , “lifetime” home with an open floor plan. They asked for morning sun in the kitchen, a house full of light, and all their living spaces on one floor.

They have an active, outdoor lifestyle and they wanted a seamless connection between inside and outside living spaces. They asked for project space, a shop, plenty of garden storage, and a home office. Their two adult children will return for family visits. They had a firm budget and they wanted to be good neighbors.

The site is a treasured field at the edge of a 19th century maritime and farming community. Our design concept was derived from the client’s program of living spaces, the sun, an east-west axis, and a long history of Maine homes.

Built to relate to the land, sun, and climate, the Maine farmhouse was the high performance, good value home of its day. The Dash Landing entry sequence begins with the sunny, protected dooryard between the house and barn with a covered link to the mudroom and service spaces, then into the kitchen, dining, and living areas, and finally access to the more private spaces of the home.

The second floor guest bedrooms face the southern sun and have daylight from two sides. The central staircase provides natural summer ventilation. The north side utility spaces have low eaves and small windows.

Carefully detailed wall and roof assemblies, taped sheathing, spray foam insulation, high performance fiberglass/wood windows and a meticulous framing crew resulted in an airtight envelope with a 0.36 ACH50. A two stage, geo-thermal heat pump provides the low velocity, five-zone, air heating and cooling for all seasons. The roofs are designed for an array of photo-voltaic collectors that would allow the home to achieve Net Zero energy performance.

The design utilizes an open plan and affordable technologies to provide comfort and sustainability in just under 2500 square feet … the farmer would approve.

Architecture or A/E Firm Name

Whitten Architects

Architect

Rob Whitten

Team

Will Fellis

Consultants

Structural Engineer - Albert Putnam Associates; Interior Designer - Krista Stokes; Geothermal Design - Evergreen Geothermal

Location

Freeport, Maine

General Contractor

Witheld at Owner's request