This home has earned the nickname “Green Country Ranch.” Depending on your particular inclinations, you can see it as a ranch house that is resource efficient, a country ranch that is in a particularly verdant spot, or as a ranch home with a country vernacular that is resource efficient. It’s ambiguous on purpose, and we think it fits this project perfectly.

Green Country Ranch

Our clients hail from Ireland and France, where they grew up in smaller, more efficient homes. They came to Meadowlark looking for something that was contrary to the current building standards they had seen in the United States—namely larger homes with inefficient floor plans and little concern for durability and sustainability. They had purchased an idyllic five-acre lot just outside of Dexter, Michigan and wanted to capture the beauty of its beautiful sloping prairie.

American Style Meets European Functionality

The result is a custom home inspired by blending European sensibilities with an American classic: the ranch. With a great view looking south over a meadow of waving grass, this house is the very smallest that could be built on this site. Situated on a sloping hillside, the home has a full-walkout lower level and was designed to maximize the winter sun and harvest the summer breezes.

Focus on Accessibility and Green Features

Currently, the lower level contains the family bedrooms, master suite, and family/play rooms; however, as our clients’ accessibility needs change, there is a full bedroom suite upstairs that will accommodate one-story living, if necessary. A durable building envelope, advanced HVAC system, and lots of green technology will ensure that our clients will be able to stay in the home long into the future regardless of how their accessibility requirements change or how energy prices rise.

The Green Country Ranch includes the following features:

• Superior Walls foundation
• Hot roof
• Geothermal heating and cooling
• Advanced thermal envelope
• PEX plumbing and low-flow fixtures
• Passive-solar and aging-in-place design strategies
• Not So Big® House inspired design
• Radiant floor heat in lower level
• High performance duct work

No matter how you look at it, we look forward to showing off this wonderful project.