Inside Passive House CasaTortuga


We are closing in on one full year of living in the house now. It has been wonderful. I don't think either of us has missed Priscilla for even one second.

I'm still puttering along with finishing the bits that need finishing. The pantry is the next big project I'll soon be gearing up to start. The last couple of months has been dedicated to finishing the interior of the screened porch. It's finally done now too. At this time of the year it is the best room of the house. I will have to attempt to photograph it to show it off too but the quality of the pictures will be nothing like the ones that follow.

These pictures are some of only a few that you will find on the Kendel-Dezoete Designs Houzz page. We would like to give a big shout out to Mike Dezoete for making the experience of tricking out a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a laundry room/closet so enjoyable. By the time we finally found our way to Mike we were pretty overwhelmed by the whole process of building a house and having to make decisions about a million and one details. He made it fun again...and easy. Thanks Mike...you're the best!

So here is the main level of Casa Tortuga...


The kitchen is always the best room in the house. At this time of year the counter top is the same color as the leaves outside. It's almost like you're outside when standing at the sink, surrounded by green and the large window.
It makes doing dishes a little bit more pleasant...if that's possible.
                                                                                                                                               ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

The kitchen view from the dining table.
                                                                                                                                    ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

The living room view from the dining table.
                                                                                                                                    ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

The master bathroom (or "principle" bathroom as cousin Marie prefers. Actually, I like that better too.).
The barrier-free shower is in the background. Note the niche by the tub...tall enough to accommodate any wine bottle!
                                                                                                                                    ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

The view from the shower through the laundry/closet area into the principle bedroom.
                                                                                                                                    ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

The guest bathroom on the lower level. I still need to build the permanent vanity for this room. What is there now is
temporary...so guests have some place for toiletries when they visit.
                                                                                                                                    ~photo credit: RDZ Photography

That's it. The photographer was only here to photograph the kitchen and bathrooms. There are more photos that show more views of these rooms plus a couple more areas outside these rooms on the Kendel-Dezoete Designs page on Houzz. Check them out here: http://www.houzz.com/projects/1977084/passive-home-Lyndhurst

And now for the not-so-high-quality photos...


The recently completed screened porch, looking west. Absolutely the best room of the house at this time of year!
The ceiling actually isn't arched. The only way I can take a photo of a whole room is with the panorama function
 on the iPhone's camera. That's the Turtle Falls workshop in the background...
where I spend most of my waking hours these days. 

Looking east in the screened porch. A wood-burning fireplace and WeatherMaster windows will allow us
 to use this room on those nice sunny days through the fall and winter.

That's all for now. I better get back to work...still many things to build for Casa Tortuga in the Turtle Falls workshop!

More later,
Mimi