Evertson Hill: A “Third Generation” Green Home

2008

Apr

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Petrides Homes is a New York City-based designer and developer of residential projects that, last week, announced the completion of Evertson Hill in Millbrook, New York. The 4400-square-foot home sits on 22 acres in Smithfield Valley, just shy of 90 miles north of Manhattan, and offers 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4 wood-burning fireplaces, and an attached barn with a 500-square-foot loft and two-car garage. Putting aside the debate over whether such a large house should be deemed sustainable, the project incorporated a number of significant green design features even though it is not pursuing any formal third-party certification.

Petrides aimed to prefabricate and assemble as much of the house as possible in order to minimize both site disturbance and construction debris. For example, all of the home’s exterior walls, and most interior walls, were prefabricated off-site and assembled into the shell in only 3.5 days. The house is completely self-sufficient with respect to its plumbing; a 510-foot deep well with 600 gallons of storage can provide 8 gallons per minute to the kitchen and bathrooms. A tight building envelope is complemented by interior walls that are insulated, while the home’s HVAC equipment has a SEER rating of 13. Although the home is not pursuing a LEED rating, Petrides followed the LEED for Homes guidelines and believes that Everston Hill would achieve at least a Certified- if not Silver- rating.

Using a term that we've yet to come across, Petrides head George Petrides referred to Everston Hill as a “third generation (3G)" green building. Mr. Petrides identified two previous pushes for green construction, pointing to conservation efforts during the 1970s and the more recent proliferation of prefabricated and modular construction. The Greek Revival-style home echoes the architecture across Smithfield Valley and was once part of the 1,100-acre Evertson Estate, a farm that was founded in 1741. Check out extensive images of both interior and exterior, as well as some stunning views of surrounding Millbrook, here.