An underlying principal of designer, Sandra Fugate, was to blend the serenity of a Japanese temple with the simplicity and warmth of a Craftsman bungalow.  This 2200 sq.ft., one-story home was designed for aging-in-place, using universal design principles, as well as green building techniques throughout the project. 
 
Two unique features of this house are its floor and its walls.  The floor is a standard 4" thick concrete radiant slab-on-grade. However, rather than covering this slab in tile, wood, or carpet, it was ground and polished to a beautiful marble-smooth, blue and gray, glacier-colored finish.
 
The walls are built using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs), instead of wood.  This wall system uses large hollow blocks, similar to cinder blocks, which come with insulation attached.  The blocks are stacked, reinforced steel is placed vertically and horizontally, door and window locations are blocked out, and concrete is poured throughout, filling the hollow system.