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A project was born when Dirk Nelson acquired
a piece of land next door to his own property on Russell Creek.
As he mulled over the general design ideas in the early stage,
he began to scour the valley looking for interesting discards,
structurally intact building pieces.
Each “found” piece
ended up in a holding area which was nicknamed “the boneyard”.
Eventually, Nelson had collected a treasure trove of Walla Walla
valley history.“The
boneyard pieces told me the story and helped design the home,” Nelson
continues, recounting the hours he spent rendering exact dimensions
of each object on his autocad program. Among the collection were
beams & bolts from the old Louisiana Pacific mill to enormous
light poles from the Columbia River’s McNary Dam. Railroad
trestle girders lay stacked beside huge locust tree wood taken
from the actual home site. With meticulous hand work, Nelson and
his team, Living Space Construction transformed the boneyard finds
into structural components that each hint at the story of their
former lives.
The next design stage for Nelson, was to come
up with the structure, and interplay of each part. Never one to
compromise, Dirk insisted that this be an extremely efficient vessel;
heating, cooling, airflow, and lighting would all be minimally
consumptive.“This house
really breathes well,” Nelson explains, as he points out
planned gaps in the internal structure that facilitate airflow
(and light flow) to all parts of the home.
The entire house is
open to the clerestory, which, in itself is a gorgeous walkway
vista of many windows set to electronic controls. These windows
in addition to others (20 motorized windows) on the main level
electronically open and close to balance the buildings air temperature
and quality with natural ventilation. Thus, the home owner can
achieve the desired temperature throughout the home. This hybrid
cooling system complements a radiant concrete slab which heats
in the winter and cools in the summer.“We laid about a mile
of radiant tubing beneath all floors of the living space.” In
this way, the temperature comes up from the floor, the cleanest,
most comfortable way to heat a home. How is it fed? Nelson laid
4,000 feet of coiled tubing beneath the earth berms next to the
house. This ground-source heat pump is covered by five to sixteen
feet of earth at all points.
The Boneyard Project is an entirely electric
house, designed and built to except a grid tied
solar system at any time. This was left to last so that the actual
annual power consumption could be determined for accurate system
sizing.
Down to the smallest
detail, the Boneyard is a craftsman’s
paradise. Nelson has spared no remote corner of the interior in
his inclusion of hand rubbed and organically shaped wall molding.
Each door knob, and cabinet pull is substantial and beautiful.
Cabinets themselves were custom built to highlight the wood grain
of the local black locust trees that provided their wood. Countertops
were painstakingly fashioned from regional basalt pieces, “These
might be the only basalt countertops of their kind--past or future,” Dirk
points out, hinting at the labor-intensive process that led to
their final installation.
The floor itself is another masterpiece
of ingenuity with the bringing out a material’s best appearance.
Many are stumped about the material when they first see the polished
stone-like multicolor expanse. The floor is a washed aggregate
stone pouring that has been polished over and over again; when
the correct luster was achieved, it was then sealed. The interior
shows off Nelson’s love for the integrity of each material. “I
don’t like veneers” he explains, “I want to show
off the beauty of each natural material. Even the aging process
will develop a deeper beauty over time.”
The property grounds do not escape Nelson’s
artistic hand. Dirk put careful thought into how a homeowner would
use the outdoor areas of this home. Rustic stonework makes for
a monumental, yet still profoundly ecological landscape. How so?
Any concrete from the former incarnation on the property was broken
up into ‘rocks’. “I
call this ‘industrial rip-rap’” Dirk explains,
pointing to the glorious intermingling of local boulders and his
re-use rocks. Thus he could achieve a natural looking masonry hardscape
that otherwise might have required a fleet of heavy duty trucks,
and the majority of the project’s budget. There are stone
stairways leading to the clerestory entrance on the second floor.
Poured benches sit atop some of the rocks, while
others form quaint seats themselves near the front door. Old growth
trees on the property were saved and built around, preserving the
grand and agreeable feel of the home. More of Dirk’s industrial rip-rap was artfully
laid out in the estate driveway courtyard. Seating nooks and people
spaces dot the entire property (and all vertical levels) surrounding
the Boneyard. The whole exterior conjures up visions of summer
gatherings over local wines and great conversation.
With all the self adjusting, palpable airflow,
and lifestyle facilitation, the Boneyard becomes a viable organism, “I
feel like the house really breathes, and takes on living presence,” Dirk
explains when talking about the time spent inside.“This is
a goal I have for my houses, that they take on a life of their
own, becoming living, breathing entities.” He has certainly
achieved this goal with “the Boneyard”.
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