A Passive Solar Home Built Into the Hillside Asks $610K in Northern California

Article from Dwell Magazine written by Kathryn M. on April 27, 2021. Click here to read the article on Dwell.com. Designed in 1980, the partially sunken Sunburst Residence keeps a low profile—and a low carbon footprint. In Applegate, California, halfway between Sacramento and the mountains of Lake Tahoe, a passive solar home known as the Sunburst Residence…

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Byrne Residence — Nevada County, CA

An expansive ranch headquarters located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Designed for rustic elegant living and energy efficiency. This extensive remodel and addition of a dreary modest 1980s ranch-style home into a modern ranch estate home shows what can be done to completely change the character of an existing house. We doubled…

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Iconic Architecture

David’s work was profiled in the February 2017 issue of Style Magazine. The article featured three residences as Iconic Architecture: the Alexander Residence-a modern style located near Pollack Pines on the South Fork of the American River; the Gamboa Residence patterned on an Australian Ranch House style located in Shingle Springs; and the Levin Residence…

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Bienvenue Cabin

We have designed an off-grid self-sufficient vacation home for a British family near Elko, Nevada. The client has requested that the structure incorporate 3 sea shipping containers; the exterior will be clad in rusticated vertical Cor-ten sheet metal to blend with and endure the harsh desert environment.

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The Last Wright

AT LAST WHAT THE WORLD HAS BEEN WAITING FOR! David is busy writing his memoirs; the story of his life is one of extraordinary experiences leading to a satisfying career as an unusual type of architect. He is writing this because of his wife’s encouragement, and as an autobiographic history for his children; it reads…

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Rehabilitating a Julia Morgan House

The North Star house in Grass Valley, CA is an 11,00square foot mansion designed by the internationally heralded architect Julia Morgan. Built in 1905 the house is now listed in the National Historic Register, after having been “lost to history” for over 50 years. This was built for Arthur De Wint and Mary Hallock Foote…

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Let It Shine

A newly published book LET IT SHINE authored by John Perlin, who formerly co-wrote THE GOLDEN THREAD, is a 300 year history of the solar architecture of the world. David is featured as an early solar pioneer in the 1970’s solar revival in the USA where he started passive solar designing in Santa Fe, NM.…

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Build with SIPs in Mother Earth News

David wrote an article entitled “Build with SIPs” for Mother Earth News which is on page 56 of the August/September 2012 issue. The article discusses what Structural Insulated Panels are, and the advantages and disadvantages of building with this advanced construction technology. SIPs have been used around the world for decades and are now gaining…

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Passive Solar Design Basics in Mother Earth News

For the June/July 2012 issue of Mother Earth News David wrote an article titled “Passive Solar Design Basics.” This article discusses the ins and outs of Passive Solar Architectural design for buildings. It is interesting that the term Passive Solar was first coined in the living room of David’s new solar house built in Santa…

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