Hickory Home

Call 828-681-0851 or email john@bolafurniture.com

Designer and Owner: John McDermott
General Contractor: Bola Design
Location: Asheville, NC

Program: A primary residence with a open floor plan allowing for 2 bedrooms plus a master bedroom suit,
studio/office room, 3.5 baths, kitchen with pantry, living/dinning, 1 1/2 car garage/storage, outdoor shower,
3 levels of outdoor decks, stone patio, and laundry.

Square Footage: 2700 sq-ft heated plus 500 sq-ft garage, 500 sq-ft outdoor decks.

Structural: Concrete block, TGI floor and roof trusses, wood frame

Year Built: 2006

Price: $750,000

HVAC: Force air heating and cooling- Trane high efficiency heat pump 14 seer rating,
34,000 BTU/HR Max Blank (Mfg. in Germany) woodstove with baking oven.
All HVAC duct work and air handler are within the insulation envelope of the home.

Sewer and Water: 465 foot deep well (8 gpm flow) and gravity feed septic system.

Site: A beautiful south facing mountain property was an opportunity to design a
contemporary passive solar home that limit the disturbance of native vegetation while
maximizing visual connection to nature. The 3.5 acre site is located in Merrill’s Cove
(Southeast Asheville), just a 15 minute drive to downtown Asheville and 15 minutes
to the regional airport. This rural residential lot in a restricted development and
offers complete privacy, sloping land, mature hardwood trees, southern exposure,
and 180 degree pristine mountain year-around view.

Exterior Materials: Hardi panel cement board accented with Vermont slate roofing shakes,
vertical grain western red cedar and mahogany, standing seam metal roof, ipe (ironwood),
white oak and locust decking (milled on-site), stainless and galvanized steel fasteners.

Interior Materials: Painted drywall, quarter-sawn white, red oak and hickory floors,
quarter sawn oak, walnut, and cherry trim, white oak/steel tubing baluster, split-face block,
granite counter top and hearth, stainless steel counter tops, and T&G spruce cathedral ceiling
in great room. All hardwood flooring and trim were milled (quarter-sawn) on-site from building
site trees and wind fallen trees found near the site.

Cabinetry: Custom built and recycled kitchen cabinets (birdseye maple faced draws and doors).
Bathroom cabinetry utilizes black cherry, mahogany, white oak, black walnut, and stainless steel.

Green Building Attributes: 1. Passive solar design 2. low maintenance exterior 3. highly insulated
exterior walls and roof 4. high efficiency variable speed heat pump 5. recycled kitchen cabinets
6. milled on-site cleared and wind-falling trees 7. recycled greenhouse plastic vapor barrier under cement pad
8. natural boric acid termite treatment 9. foiled faced rigid insulation on roof
10. low VOC sub-floor and interior paint 11. low maintenance native and eatable landscape
12. landscape rocks (walls and paths) were obtain on-site and within 1 miles of building site.
13. Over 90% of lighting is fluorescent 14. Grided and finished cement floor adds thermal mass
and low maintenance 15. tight high quality Hurd windows

Doors and Hardware: Front door is custom built by owner using quarter-sawn white oak
and black cherry, and ball bearing hinges. Solid birch interior door with contemporary Schlage hardware.

Plumbing Fixtures: Grohe throughout with Kohler Class 5, low-flush toilets.

Electrical Fixtures: 3 ceiling fans (contemporary and energy star rated), custom design wall scones,
stainless steel/glass exterior lights. All bath exhaust fans are remote for quiet operation and energy efficiency.

Windows: High Efficiency Hurd sliding doors and windows. Anodized bronze aluminum cladding with wood interior.

Insulation: Formaldehyde free fiberglass wall insulation R19 and R30 (1^st level). Foil face polyisocyanurate
foam insulation under 1^st level cement floor R14, behind block walls R17, and roof R42

Appliances: Kitchen-aid cook top & refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher, and Dacor convection wall oven.

Electronics: All bedrooms and office is wired for cable and phone. High speed internet available
thru phone company. Power boosted TV antenna has been installed which receives high definition
local and public stations (no monthly cable TV fees)

Design: The main objective was to preserve the mature hardwood trees and rhododendrons while
take advantage of the southern exposure with good “green” and passive solar design. A significant
design element is the large south facing sliding glass doors in the great room and bedrooms. This
design configuration brings daylight deep into the house, connects the interior space to native hardwood trees,
offer pristine views of the mountains, while the southern exposure allows for solar energy gain.
The kitchen, living, and dining areas are one big space with large areas of glazing on south side.
These windows are protected during the hot summer months by the mature deciduous trees,
adding to the house’s overall energy efficiency. The north and west face has minimum window area.
The color palette (bronze) of the exterior surfaces are dark, absorbing solar energy during the winter months.
The abundance of hardwood trees around the house keep it cool during the warmer seasons while also
maintaining complete privacy. The net result is extremely low energy use with an average utility bill of less
than $70/month. All domestic energy demands are 100% electric supplemented with a wood burning stove.

Construction: The house is built using basic stick framing with low maintenance cement board siding
trimmed with western red cedar. A maroon-color standing seam metal roof adds aesthetic qualities while
contributing to the sustainability and low maintenance of the exterior. The interior woodwork is highly crafted of
fine hardwoods milled on-site.

Landscape Design: The 3.5 acre site is blessed with an abundance of mature hardwood trees,
native rhododendrons and mountain laurels. The house site was carefully placed on top of a sloping
knoll so as to maintain the largest oak, hickory, and maple trees and the many native (flame) azaleas.
After careful thinning of the wooded area, native plants were incorporated into the landscape, such as oak leaf
and flowering hydrangeas, ferns, dogwoods, hemlocks, rhododendrons, hollies, irises, daylilies, laurels, hostas, etc.
Many low maintenance eatable fruit bearing plants were added including blueberries, strawberries, cherry trees,
service berry and herbs. Finally, an area was designated to accommodate a vegetable garden.
All planted vegetation is grown organically utilizing the site’s top soil supplemented with organic fertilizers
and generous amounts of on-site produced compost.