Cascade
Dwell editors chose MMA's Deer Haven House as a "Best Modern Home".
Deer Haven House is located in Grand Rapids, MI and was build for a busy, growing family of five. It is a 3,000 sq ft home conceived as a narrow bars of space that follow and step down with the subtle contours of the site and unfold to the South to take advantage of the daily path of the sun and natural site air movements. Nestled into its wooded 1-acre setting, the building carefully occupies the space between the ground and the tree canopy with an unfolding spatial sequence that connects the occupants to both through extensions of the ground plane and manipulation of clerestory light.
Thanks to MLive and Jim Harger for writing and sharing this story about one of our residential projects: Deer Haven Residence. See images and project information.
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, MI - Architect Evan Mathison can go on for hours about all of the features he has packed into the sustainable house he designed for his family. Some are esoteric details that only architects will comprehend.
Here's one that everyone who pays the bills can understand: Mathison's utility bills totaled only $193 in the four months between May and September this year. That includes air conditioning, cooking, laundry and hot water for a family of five.
LEED-platinum certification - the highest rating possible -- is pending for the house, says Mathison, a principal with Mathison | Mathison Architects, a firm he founded with his father, Tom Mathison.
It could cost even less in the future, says Mathison, who completed the house last year. They are still learning how to take advantage of its green roof, solar electrical panels, geo-thermal heating and cooling system and triple-paned European windows.