Development In Wilton
Louden
Ridge, located just four mile east of Northway Exit 15’s
burgeoning commercial corridor, is not your typical housing
estate. This small community of
custom
homes is being created with the environment in mind. And
when builder Frank Laskey talks about the environment,
he doesn’t
just mean the area’s pristine county forest that
surrounds the property, he also means the environment within
the house.
Capital
Construction builds environmentally responsible custom homes.
It is a
niche Frank Laskey came to after
working on
a home for an RPI professor and his wife, who required
materials and construction concepts that would not exacerbate
the occupant’s
chemical sensitivities. It also blossomed out of a relationship
with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified
architect Michael Phinney, an RPI graduate who designed
New York State’s first green office building, the
domed DEC building in Albany.
The
Timbers model is a 2004 Showcase of Homes entry currently
under construction,
and the first of 22 homes planned
for the development. “We’re building houses
that are “green”,
which means we’re using sustainable materials,” said
Laskey. “We buy materials from resources that
grow quicker than we use them, or resources that are
easily
renewable. We
use indigenous materials where we can, such as local
stone and local timbers.”
The green vision
encompasses virtually every aspect of the process, from purchasing
long-lasting materials
to
ensuring building materials
are either low in or free from Volatile Organic Chemicals
(VOCs), such as Formaldehyde, which is found in plywood.
Capital
Construction is the only builder in the Northeast to be
registered with the American Lung Association,
Health House
Program, which was developed to respond to the
increasing number of Americans suffering from allergies and
asthma. In addition
to material selection, the house is healthy because
there is a ventilation system – separate
from heating and cooling – that
keeps a continuous flow of air throughout the
house 24/7. The duct work channels stale air to
the outside
and brings fresh air in, then redistributes it
throughout the house.
But
this “healthy
house” is
more than just energy efficient appliances and
low VOC construction materials. Laskey and his
team
have put a lot of thought
and science into understanding how the materials work together
to create a highly efficient environment that is also aesthetically
pleasing. The energy bills for
this 3,600-square-foot house are expected to be $120 a month.
It has a boiler that actually senses the outdoor temperature
and makes
adjustments accordingly. “We
thought about the windows and their insulating value and how
we insulate the walls and what size boiler we use and how we
ventilate
it, and we put all those
parts into a spreadsheet to arrive at a whole picture,” said
Laskey.
Working
on a healthy house has changed the way his laborers work
as well. Again,
it requires thinking things through to find
ways
to make
the building
as efficient
as possible. For example, they frame 24 inches on center instead
of 16 inches, using less lumber and more insulation. The outside
of the
house
is covered
in fiber cement boards, which looks exactly like wood and comes
with a 25-year warranty.
The roof has 40-year architectural shingles and copper. All
the lower roofs are completely copper. There’s a cupola
on top that has windows that open and close automatically
depending
on the weather. The goal is to fashion
a house
that is durable and low-maintenance. And, as you might expect,
the house has a computer that controls heating, lighting, ventilation,
security, home
entertainment
and so on. You can call this house from your cell phone or
your laptop to check on things.
The
architectural style of the house is a unique, eclectic
mix that evokes Arts and Crafts with its many roof levels
and overhangs,
shielding
the
windows from
the summer’s sun and heat. The spectacular timbered portico
entrance features a large blue stone slab threshold with timbered
pillars resting on a rough-hewn,
granite column base. Champlain Stone, headquartered in Warrensburg,
provided all the stone for this project from its Fort Ann quarries.
In keeping with its
naturalistic goals, the stone looks as if it were literally
pulled from the earth on the spot. What you see outside is
just a hint of what you’ll find
inside the house. Patterns and materials are repeated.
Floors are hickory or stone and exposed timbers are used
inside as well.
The
interior features an open floor plan with a master bedroom,
three additional bedrooms and three and a half baths. There
is a gourmet kitchen with a butler’s
pantry, a formal dining room, laundry, screened-in porch and a finished
basement with a home theatre and entertainment area. Rising
through to the upper level
family room is a double-sided stone fireplace. Decorating and interior
design for the showcase home is by team member Susan Brier
Shafer, a Harvard graduate.
She is working on furnishings with Moose Creek Ltd., an Albany-based proponent
of a “civilized rustic” style.
Louden Ridge building lots will
range from 1.3 to seven acres. The developer has set aside 30 of the
95-acre parcel for hiking and horseback riding
trails. The exterior landscaping, such as the gravel drive, will also
be designed with
indigenous materials and plants for a low maintenance, low water use,
environment to mimic the natural surroundings. Currently, there
are a lot of deer and
turkey in the area. Homeowners will be encouraged to minimize their footprint
on the
land and take a conservationist approach to the exterior.
Houses in the
development are starting at $500,000. Jane Sazen with Coldwell
Banker (640-4925) is the lead Realtor.
The Timbers at Louden Ridge will
be featured at the 2004 Showcase of Homes on September 25.
The showcase home, which is loaded with every
conceivable
feature, is selling for $1.2 million. In addition, there is a Green
Building Conference to be held October 26, at the City Center in
Saratoga, sponsored
by the American Lung Association and the National Association of
Home Builders Research Center. Laskey and his team are the
focal point of
the conference,
which is expected to garner national attention. Capital Construction
is headquartered at 81 South Street, Ballston Spa. The telephone
number is
587-4279, and you
can visit them online at www.capitalconstructioninc.com
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