Page 108 - SOM Summer 2017

w elCo m e h o m e | build
Bamboo was used throughout
the house as cabinets because of
its durability. But the rest of the
woods are a mix and finished using
only a no VOC European oil. “Pine
siding came out of a local remodel
probably from trees cut in the
1800’s”, says Sweeney, “There’s
cedar from British Columbia
bridge timbers. The gym bleachers
are Douglas Fir with plugs where
the boltholes used to be. There’s
salvaged pine from the Timber
Rock fire. Floors are reclaimed
teak, stair landing wall is weath-
ered gray decking, and the barn
beams in the boys loft are from the
old Ashland Greenhouses.”

And then there is the master
bath ceiling. Metaphorically it’s
the centerpiece of the house that
conceptually brings the innovative
design pieces together like a puz-
zle. Sweeney had many leftover
pieces of wood in a variety of sizes
and depths. As an experiment,
he glued them in mosaic fashion
to pieces of plywood and then
mounted them on the ceiling. It’s
striking and as Delgado explains,
also healthy. “Unfinished wood is
absorptive of moisture, but what
most people don’t know is when it
absorbs the moisture it also slowly
releases it which helps with ther-
mal aspects of the house.”

The beauty of this home comes
not only from the design, the
use of passive solar energy, or its
views of the surrounding moun-
tains, but also from its use and the
expression of the building mate-
rials. “Beauty is how you feel,”
Delgado explains, “how you sense
things, the things that keep you
connected to the way the house is
functioning, living and breathing.”

Master bathroom: Bamboo vanity,
reclaimed rosewood mirror frames,
and custom reclaimed cedar ceiling
Photos by Anthology Woods