High Performance
Home Tour 2025

The Eaves Residence

Architect:
Ellen Cassilly Architects

Landscape Architect:
Tributary Land Design and Build

Builder:
West End Building Company

The Longview Farm and the Eaves Residence

Located on thirty-eight acres of historical farmland near Hillsborough, NC, the Eaves regenerative farm complex is a family venture into stewarding the land and living in a way that is sensitive to the site’s historical, ecological and cultural context. The Eaves Residence is the newest structure on the site, which links the offsprings’ house, historical barns, permaculture fields, and living operations together along a ridge line that flows from the upper most hardwood forest to the open fields beyond. Appropriately called Longview Farm, the house siting and its connection to the farm along the ridge line celebrates views of piedmont farmland and forest. The new residence exemplifies the owners’, designers’ and builders’ commitment to sourcing local materials, reducing their carbon footprint, nurturing the land, and working with natural processes to create a beautiful, healthy, residence for aging in place.

Eaves Building Systems to Note:

  • Modern construction practices | High attention is paid to making newly constructed buildings be airtight and well-insulated. A well-sealed building means a more efficient building––this factor is especially prioritized on a sustainably-focused project like this. Building sealing and insulation are "invisible" to most homeowners but have an outsized impact compared to their costs on the overall performance of a project. 

  • Location of Mechanicals | In this building, mechanical systems are in conditioned, interior spaces. This makes them more efficient as whole through minimizing air leakage and issues related to condensation that comes with temperature differences. Additionally, it increases air quality as the air in the systems is coming from an already conditioned space.

  • Mechanical Efficiency | This building will utilize high-efficiency mechanical systems, such as a high-efficiency heat pump, hot water system, and Conditioning Energy Recovery Ventilator (CERV)––a system which increases efficiency by reusing valuable heat and humidity in exhaust air again in the fresh air going into the house. This decreases the amount of energy required to make the fresh air comfortable and ideal for the occupants of the space. HVAC design by Energy Vanguard.

  • Green Energy | This house will be outfitted with solar panels and backup battery storage. Utilizing sustainable energy sources makes the building require less energy from non-sustainable sources. The system is provided by Southern Energy Management, and the house is 100% electric—no gas supply.

  • Local Materials | The poplar siding that will be on the exterior of this home is locally milled, meaning that it will have a decreased carbon footprint, as materials sourced from far away require more energy and emissions to get them to the site. This wood is also diverted from the ‘waste stream’ resulting from urban developments, the shou-sugi ban is a low impact method of preserving wood. The local sawmill is Fireside Lumber Company and Sawmill.

  • Reused Materials | Using reclaimed hardwood flooring in this house means that fewer new materials will be required in the build, and fewer trees will have been cut down for this new structure, sourced from Southend and Raleigh Reclaimed. Materials from the previous build (the barn) are being used in this project for vanities and cabinets.

  • Environmentally Conscious Materials | This project utilizes environmentally conscious materials, such as ZIP wall sheathing, a sheathing material that is both efficient in production and use, as it covers the function of sheathing. The wall section also utilizes Hempwool, which is made mostly of natural hemp material. Natural materials like this sequester carbon from the atmosphere. When a product like this is used, it stores carbon in the structure and thus can have a negative carbon impact, which is good for the planet in its reduction of greenhouse gases. Also non-toxic materials are beneficial for home owners, producers and installers, reducing exposure to harmful chemicals.

Eaves Design Aspects to Note:

  • Envelope | The most efficient homes have a minimized exterior perimeter per internal square footage, as this decreases the total surface area between conditioned and unconditioned space. Energy efficiency in a building comes from having a good, insulated envelope between interior and exterior walls. Although we can work to have efficient wall systems, the more exterior walls you have in a building, the more work will be required to condition the space. While wanting the footprint to be as compact as possible, we also need to factor in good cross ventilation and natural daylighting - both of which lean us toward thinner/longer homes, especially in the south. The simpler footprint of this home is a design factor to note that makes the building more efficient.

  • Site | This home was designed for a piece of land that has been clear of trees for a long time. Working on a site that requires very little tree removal is a simple and intuitive way to build more environmentally conscious, as you are avoiding removing trees, which have many natural benefits from a site. Owners will be adding many new native trees and shrubs around the house to regenerate the disturbed land.

  • Floorplan | This home features an open plan. The living, dining, and kitchen areas all are in one open room. This increases access to air flow, natural light, and can decrease the footprint and corresponding conditioned space size of a home that would otherwise have these rooms compartmentalized. 

  • Situation | The overall design of the home is an 'L' shape to create a courtyard for gathering and contributing to seamless indoor/outdoor living. The public spaces are on one leg, facing south, and the private spaces on the other, facing east. This means that the roof can be utilized for solar panels and that the house itself will utilize sunlight. All bedrooms utilize morning light from the east, and living spaces have direct access to strong, southern light throughout the day. This will keep the house bright in desirable ways year-round, minimizing the need for supplemental light. The passive solar takes advantage of the solar gains during winter by having south/west glass doors and windows with minimal glass on the northern façade; while mitigating the summer heat with a specially designed shade trellis.

  • Pool | The natural pool uses plants and gravel filters to clean the water rather than chlorine. The regeneration zone surrounding the pool is sized to hold enough plants to filter and clean the swimming area. This regeneration zone can also become a habitat for frogs, small fish, and insects. This mini-ecosystem combined with the filters prevents pests like mosquitoes from becoming a problem. These pools can be heated via a solar heater, or left to their natural temperature for those who like a colder swim. The pool is filled with rainwater collected in a cistern from roof runoff.

Important to Discuss:

Although it is good to applaud and understand the aspects of new construction buildings that are better for the natural world around us, it is important to remember that the most sustainable ways to live involve utilizing spaces that are already built. All construction––particularly new buildings––have a negative impact on the environment through their emissions and disruption.