The Hansen House Part 13: The Loft

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Elliott Lofting

In continuation with the great room, I thought that it would be best to cover the loft area next. The loft consists of a sitting area and a balcony through which the chimney extends up through.

The custom fireplace and chimney, made with stone found around the property, was built by Stonescapes Inc. of Hockessin, DE. The intersection of the chimney through the balcony creates a lovely, small sitting area that is a perfect spot to read a book.

The loft also has a larger seating area located above the kitchen.

The railings and balusters were hand forged by Harris Metalsmith Studio LLC and are simple twisted picket design, painted Satin Black with an Oak cap rail.

The floors in the loft are Wormy Maple.

This door leads to an office/media room as well as the guest room

Above the sitting are in the loft is a cupola. The cupola assists in passive ventilation.

The Hansen House Part 12: The Great Room

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Elliott Lofting

If you were not familiar with the Hansen House, you would never guess what lies beyond the beautifully handcrafted reclaimed Oak front door.

Custom arched door by Shawn Hollenshead Cabinetry.

As you walk in the front door and enter through the mudroom, you can either go straight towards the kitchen or go left towards the great room. The Hansen House is a hybrid house, meaning that part of it is timber framed while the rest is stick built. HJLCMS used the energy efficient method of built out walls throughout the house. Blown in insulation creates a super insulated, tight building envelope which increases the efficiency of the house.

The Douglas Fir timber frame is the roof truss system above the great room, loft and kitchen. Timber framing allows for high ceilings and open building methods, not to mention that it is gorgeous. The Douglas Fir timbers are stained with Sansin clear finish and the Southern Yellow Pine roof decking is stained with Sansin Camel. Sansin is a low-VOC environmentally friendly product.

The great room has beautiful views of the rural farm land that surrounds the property. The Marvin French doors are glazed to enhance energy performance. Glazing means that the window glass that has a clear coating to reflect heat while allowing light to stream in.

Reclaimed Oak was used for the flooring and stone found from around the farm was used in constructing the fireplace.

The Hansen House Part 11: The Kitchen

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Elliott Lofting

The workspace of the Hansen House’s kitchen is under the loft while the rest of the kitchen is open to above and out to the great room and dining area. The open ceiling allows the natural light to flow in through the windows above and all around.

The flooring is ungauged slate. The slate provides a natural earthy coloring and interesting cleft textures to the floor.

The back splash matches the slate on the flooring.

Shawn Hollenshead Cabinetry beautifully constructed the kitchen cabinetry as well was other elements throughout the Hansen House. The flat panel Shaker doors were made out of soft maple with Sherwin Williams traditional Cherry stain with a sating sheen topcoat.

All of the doors and drawers are soft close and many have custom elements that were beautifully orchestrated by Shawn Hollenshead Cabinetry.

The elegant countertops are made from Uba Tuba granite.

One of the unique features of the kitchen is the window seat with a built-in storage area.

The window seat is part of the seating area of the kitchen that has magnificent views of the gorgeous grounds. These views extend throughout the great room, loft, master suite and guest rooms.

The kitchen opens up to the dining area and the great room.

The Hansen House Part 10: The Exterior

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Elliott Lofting

After the tar paper was installed on the exterior of the Hansen House, the next step was to install the venting network for the siding. Venting behind siding is necessary to prevent the major problems that could arise from trapped moisture.

The venting material is cor-a-vent sturdi-strip which runs vertically and cor-a-vent SV-3 which runs horizontally along the exterior of the walls. The sturdi-strips and SV-3 are crush resistant extruded polypropylene core with fluted airways that provide maximum airflow. The SV-3 has an enhanced insect screen to prevent insects from getting in behind the siding.

The siding is the HZ5 product line of HardiPlank. The HZ5 products are a special substrate composition designed to perform in climates with freezing temperatures, seasonal temperature variations, snow and ice.

Timber bark is the color of the siding with arctic white trim and soffits.

The Hansen House has 3 variations to the exterior which give it a unique look. As you approach the house you encounter the stone wall which is a continuation of the original and existing architecture of the farm.

When you walk around the to the front the stone fades away to classic siding.

This continues along to the side porch.

Once you get to the back and side of the garage, the siding makes the final transformation into vertical board and batten.

The soffit and trim are HZ5 product line in arctic white.

The cupola, where the whole-house fan will be installed to exhaust hot air from the house and for air circulation, has the same siding, soffit and trim as the rest of the house.

The main roof of the Hansen House is shingled while the porches and overhangs have standing seam metal roofs.

The Hansen House Part 8: The Windows

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Elliott Lofting

The black tar paper around the window openings is for durability and to protect the window sills.

As you can see below, the corners of the openings have water and ice shield for further protection.

The InLine Fiberglass windows are triple pane low-e casements with fold down cranks and colonial grids between the window panes.

All of the windows in the Hansen House have white exteriors and Oak laminate interiors, except for the windows in the garage which have brownstone exteriors and Oak laminate interiors.

Using the window orientation as a reference point to help determine where the sconce should go, our Project Manager had the great idea to put the sconce on a 2×4 and have the homeowner move it up and down the wall to help him visualize where he wanted it placed.

These exterior shots show the timber framed side porch, without the roof on it yet, and the installed windows. The Marvin Integrity Center Hinge French Doors with sliding screen are found on by the side porch and off of the front of the great room.

This custom entry door’s arch matches the arches of the existing barn and mill house.

The arched door is located under the timber framed entry way which is part of the wrap around front porch.

The next post will cover the spray cellulose insulation so check back to learn all about it!

The Hansen House Part 7: Exterior Stone Work

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Elliott Lofting

The reclaimed stone for the Hansen house was found on the property. The original owners had purchased the stone from a church was that being dismantled because it matched the stone used for the original farmhouse.

KeeneStone cut 1” is a 3-dimensional drainage device for 1.0” masonry cavity wall applications. They are designed to catch and hold mortar droppings while allowing moisture to pass through and drain out of the wall as well as suspending mortar drippings above the weep holes to prevent the drainage channels from becoming blocked or clogged.

The marble cornerstones are also reclaimed from the property. On some of these marble pieces, the drill holes from the original mining process.

The masons from Stonescapes, Inc. did a beautiful job on both the chimney and the stone walls as seen in these amazing detail shots.

The arched door matches the radius of the doorways in the barn and the well house.

These exterior shots show the craftsmanship of the masons and a quick preview of what is to come.

Check back for the next update on the installation of the windows.

The Hansen House Part 6: The Fireplace & Chimney

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Elliott Lofting

The fireplace insert is a Mendota Gas Fireplace. Mendota Gas Fireplaces offer BurnGreen technology featuring environmentally friendly practices such as adjustment of heat and blower output, which allows the user to conserve fuel. To maximize combustion efficiency and preserve indoor air quality, the direct vent design uses 100% outside air for combustion.