Materials
Ask a person shopping for a new home today what their priorities are and you’ll get answers such as, I need three bedrooms, a nice school district, a walk in master closet, vaulted ceilings, on a cul-de-sac, a big lawn, a great deal for the price, 2500 sq. ft., great resale value, and so on.
We consumers are shaped by modern culture and savvy marketing, coupled with our desire of quick gratification on a large scale. In this formula to provide amenities at the greatest value, as quick as possible, the sacrificial lambs are two: Materials, nobody gets excited about materials… and imagination, imagination that is lost to mindless repetition.
The lack of quality, or appropriateness of materials, is in my opinion, a big problem in today's building. Is it real or is it Memorex (you need to be 35 or older to remember the shattering glass) was the beginning of the end for reality, and the beginning reality for the adoration of the “copy.” Looking good is more important than being good, or honest, or simple. It’s our culture of façade. Does the word Botox ring a bell?
Generation Xerox.
The trees, the grass, the concrete, the paint, the placement of home on the lot, looks as if some snapshot of perfection was taken, and the goal is to have that look replicated 365 days of the year. A walk in the neighborhood is like a walk through a forest of 1000 perfectly lifeless plastic trees bought at Wal-Mart. Imagine for a moment, a walk through a different forest, a natural forest with its dying trees, young trees, mature trees, crooked trees, plant and animal life, centuries of nutrients and under growth, deciduous and evergreen. Imagine .
Let me staunchly defend materials!
Good, honest, and simple materials used imaginatively and harmoniously, are the cornerstones to every successful and nurturing built environment.
One of the first observations of our location was the wonderful diversity of plant life and the dramatic day-to-day difference in the appearance of the lagoon, ocean and sky. From tides, to weather, to shades of light, bright blue, dark green, each day, each hour, each cloud passing over casting shadow, was different. Our hillside also changes from day to day, season to season. Quick or long lasting growth cycles, differing blooms and dormancy, standing in stark contrast to the “mandated by HOA’s” always green, palm trees and manicured lawns of Mello Roos’ suburbia.
This observation of an ever changing natural environment, inspired a selection of materials for the house containing the ability to also have dynamic change, thus creating a connection, and harmony, between house and land.
A few examples of this philosophy in use at Herons’ House.
1. Copper is used extensively both on interior and exterior applications. The use of real copper provides for a changing color pallet from shiny copper, to dark bronze copper, to a verde green patina, back to dark bronze after a rainstorm, and then the cycle repeats. A fallen leaf stains the copper a shade different. A resting hawk, egret, or dove standing on the copper pilaster leaves a reminder of guano that magnificently stains the copper. Of all the metals available for use, copper has the greatest natural change. It's as this metal is living and changing with the seasons and with age.
2. Natural Rock is one of the most copied materials in the building trade today. Why? Because it is most beautiful in its natural form, and in demand. It seems as if every home has a rock veneer of some sort. The problem is, it is not rock. It’s a cementous product poured into a mold and then painted to emulate rock. From day one the degradation begins, after five to ten years it appears washed out and bland. If you chip it you expose the grey cement substructure. It looks the same and never changes, just dulls.
Real rock, used extensively in Herons House, lives and breaths and was made millions of years ago in sedimentary layers, as opposed to a few months ago poured into a mold. I cannot accurately describe to you the beauty of real rock, Its’ iron content glows burnt orange after a rain, the magnesium, small crystals and other minerals, glisten as the sun refracts from the face of the rock, areas exposed to weather are different than those under shade. It evolves, it changes, it seems to have moods, and when you chip it, its more of the same.
3. Cherry wood. My all time favorite building material! Cherry is also a very abused word. Cherry finish, Brazilian Cherry, Asian Cherry, French Cherry, Argh!
North American Cherry wood from the northeast is one of the most prized woods by fine furniture makers worldwide. Cherry is a hardwood, slightly less hard than red oak, with a endlessly varied natural grain. The color ranges from cream to honey and the pattern in the wood is extremely random compared to the more predictable nature of maple, oak, or walnut. The real magic in cherry is that just like copper, and rock, the wood changes color and becomes darker, with a “to die for” luster improving with age. Like a fine wine, the complexity and desirability of the wood improves year over year.
At Herons’ House, North American Cherry is used abundantly in the floors, furniture and cabinetry. There are 98 wood windows and French doors in the home and the warmth of real wood is amazing. I describe it as living inside of a jar of honey.
Many other choices, such as plain honest concrete stained with earth tone colors that work with the mineral content of the cement giving a varied and unique appearance are a better choice than the integral color poured into the cement, or an impressionistic stamping pattern. Natural air as opposed to conditioned air is healthier, our location provides us the opportunity to maximize the air flow of the home and forgo conditioned air. The colors selected, both interior and exterior, are varied and were chosen from a color palette of the surrounding environment. Natural stones like travertine and granite were used, again provided varied patterns and strength only mother nature could conceive of. The earth as a material provides cooling for our wine cellar.
All of these materials bring a greater enjoyment living in our home. Materials matter a great deal. Good, simple honest materials.