When I picture a “green” house, I imagine a mud hut with a thatched roof and no electricity.  That, or a glass building full of plants.  My preconceived notions have been shattered, however, thanks to the James Dean House in Delaware Township, New Jersey, listed with N.T. Callaway Real Estate.  This former farmhouse has been completely restored using green design strategies to minimize its environmental impact - while ensuring that the outcome was a gorgeous luxury home (no thatched roof).

Builder and owner Lise Thompson of Conservation Development used recycled and “healthy” materials wherever possible and equipped the home with high-tech amenities.  Among the green features: a high-efficiency HVAC system to reduce energy consumption, zero-VOC paints (which, after some research, I learned basically means that the paints are not made with harmful chemicals), ozone-friendly rigid spray foam insulation and an advanced drainage system that channels water to a rain garden in the lower corner of this former farm’s 2.4 landscaped acres.

In addition to being earth-friendly, this pastoral home – surrounded by magnolia trees, pink dogwoods, weeping cherry apple trees, forsythias and white birches – is luxurious as well.  The master bedroom occupies a wing by itself and commands a broad view of the property.  In the tower, the family bathroom – equipped with a platform soaking tub, luxury fixtures, radiant heated marble floor and clerestory windows that gaze up to the trees and sky – is a place to relax and indulge. 

Yes - you can indulge in a “green” house - and it doesn’t require pumping your bathwater from a well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 10:08 am and is filed under Hot Luxury Markets/Properties. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.