THE 2007 HC&G IDEA HOUSE

June 15, 2007

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Charlie Marder's landscaping will respect the indigenous flora while playing off the interior designers' creations. Surrounding Kim's porch, for example, will be indigenous glacial rock supplemented by Japanese maples, lending a Far Eastern feel. To manage the local deer population, in some areas Marder is using deer-resistant plants such as American hollies and mountain laurel, and in others hedges that attract deer, which the animals will naturally prune.

Run entirely by solar energy, the pool house is one of the estate's signature green attributes. "Our idea was to provide enough power to operate the pool house and the pool equipment," says Marc Cléjan of GreenLogic. "We're using framed panels, the traditional solar photovoltaic panels. There are other alternatives—films, laminates, membranes—but we're using panels because it's the lowest cost to install, has the best financial return and will offer the most output per square foot." With government incentives and utility rebates, Cléjan says homeowners pay on average 60 percent of the cost of a solar system. "We feel that people should be able to have whatever kind of house they want, and when you add these features it becomes ecologically beneficial. People should be able to have their cake and eat it, too."