Rural location, but with convenient access to main roads and emergency services. I do enjoy seeing the seasons change, but not a real fan of extremes in temperature nor destructive weather events.
The home we are designing will be enclosed within a large commercial greenhouse...a developing trend in rural nordic homes the past decade. The home is roughly 1600 square feet of living area, two bedrooms, single floor, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) room designs, geothermal heat, solar gain, skylights, insulated concrete form (ICF) outer walls, steel framing in inner walls and roof. Solar and battery electric...using the grid as backup. Water collection from the greenhouse roof into a cistern...then into a filtration system. Additional pure water via solar condensers, eliminating the need for a well or city water for drinking. The roof will be an open deck...under the glass of the greenhouse. We will be able to have large sliding glass doors on either side of the home to the main living areas...allowing warm, greenhouse air to fill the home...and walkouts to the greenhouse food garden. A large, detached garage for 2 vehicles, storage, and a workshop.
We will be able to live within a warm, climate-controlled environment year round, regardless of weather conditions outside. Make our own power, grow our own food, use our own water. If designed right, no utility bills in the future. As retirees, minimal bills, ADA design, perhaps one or two Optimus humanoid robots to help out, we should be able to stay in our home until the end, whenever that may be.
