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Loft-Styled New American Home Adaptable to Multi-Generational Needs

By all accounts, the single-family, modern loft-style residence is expected to be one of the best of the 21 showcase homes that over the years have been built in conjunction with the annual NAHB convention.

Co-sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry — the Supplier 100 of NAHB — and Builder magazine, this year’s home has a commercial feel in its use of large, adaptable spaces and such features as exposed ductwork and loft ceilings.

Designed by Food for Buildings, an architectural firm from the Netherlands, the home’s loft design bears a resemblance to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and provides living space that is adaptable to the needs of a variety of households spanning many generations — ranging from first-time buyers to singles to older members of the post-World War II baby boom with grown children.

In its acknowledgment of other emerging forces in the American housing market, the home works well in higher density situations and can be built using quick and easy construction techniques.

The home is being constructed in The Lakes at West Sahara — just minutes from the Las Vegas Convention Center — by local builder, Merlin Contracting and Developing, LLC.

In consultation with Building America's IBACOS Consortium, the home uses a number of high-performance technologies to achieve a level of energy efficiency that will exceed Energy Star's required score of 86 on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS). The home has been designed to use 46% less energy for space heating and cooling, hot water and lighting than a comparable standard home.

Specific energy-efficient products in the home include: “access” windows from Loewen with Sun 140 glazing; insulated concrete forms for the foundation and above-ground exterior walls; structured insulated panel roofing; heat recovery ventilators; highly efficient condensing units; and copper roofing shingles that reflect sunlight away from the house, reducing the roof’s surface temperature and the home’s cooling load.

For the first time in 10 years, most of this year’s New American Home’s structural elements will be made of concrete — including the envelope, flooring, decking and exterior finish.

The show home is being furnished by San Francisco designer Jiun Ho and merchandiser Source Francaise in a fusion of Asian and European traditions with sensibilities that blend well with both modern and classic interiors. Furnishings are conducive to relaxed living rather than studied formality and have been interspersed with antiquities rescued from French chateaus and Provencal farmhouses.

Design highlights of the home include:

• The master suite “feels” like a loft, with a unique “floating roof” and spectacular lighting. Copper louvers provide privacy for the suite’s veranda, which overlooks a lake and contains an outdoor bathtub and shower.
• Several terraces help indoor spaces mingle with the outdoors, including a 400-square-foot area that is “walled in” by louvers, contains a spa and workout equipment and offers mountain views.
• A 16-foot-high living area that opens up to a waterside terrace.
• Unique floor finishes of concrete, natural stone, tile and wood.
• A stairway connecting to an open study or office and the master quarters.
• A lower-level downstairs living area with access to direct natural light and an entrance to a small patio.
• A home cinema.
• Industrial-styled double entry doors that open to a patio resembling a small hidden garden.
• A long pool and lower reflecting pond.

The sales price of the 5,180-square-foot home is estimated to be in the $1.8 million range.

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