Holy Family Shire, House Type I

A bold experiment in contemporary housing development practices; House Type I was to be the first of its kind in the United States. Aiming high in aspiration, it sought to revive an ancient building technique and inspire a return to faith-oriented, multigenerational communal living; complete with farm to table practices, and reintroduce old world durability into contemporary vernacular architecture.

House Type I began as the uninspired design of an architectural firm out east. Eudaemonia was being designed in the neighboring lot during House Type 1’s construction and a partial redesign of its facade was requested to more closely harmonize the two.

The southern roofline was extended to cover the first floor balcony, breaking the rigid symmetry of the main facade while offering a second, south facing balcony overlooking the entire complex. Timber trusses and bracketing were added to replace cornices; decorative and synthetically clad dormers were moved and altered for usability and visibility and replaced with timber; and the synthetic cladding specified to wrap the chimney was replaced with stone to match the rest of the exterior.

Copper flashing and hand formed gutters and downspouts were specified where formerly left vague or omitted entirely — the parts of a building that are too often decided late and badly.