Casa Familia / Kevin deFreitas Architects

Architects: Kevin deFreitas Architects
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Builder: Kevin & Kara deFreitas
Interiors: Kevin & Kara deFreitas
Landscape Architect: Aerea, Leslie Ryan
Structural Engineer: Envision Engineering, Alex Barajas
Site Area: 9,178 sq ft
Project Area: 3,460 sq ft
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: David Harrison Photographic & Glenn Cormier

A reinterpretation of quintessential Southern Californian courtyard houses; this is a modestly sized home that lives much bigger than it really is by thoughtfully opening up to, and engaging, the landscape and wonderfully temperate So. Cal coastal climate. It is a home that simultaneously looking towards the future (technologically feature rich), while remembering the low tech comfort strategies of the past; a time before air conditioning and forced air units existed.

The goal of this project was to design and construct a highly efficient home that would employ passive and active strategies to significantly reduce, energy, water, and resource consumption all while delivering a modern, comfortable and livable home for a young family of six.

Through concerted research, experimentation and a good measure of faith, the house proved a success consuming 65% less electricity than state mandated standards and 55% less water than homes of comparable size without sacrificing comfort or aesthetics. This is important to dispel the common public misperception that efficiency and conservation has to look ”hippie” or alternative.

Like the song says, “it not easy being green”, but it likewise it’s not difficult either, and the ramifications for future generations are enormous.