The Setting:
Construction Date: Groundbreaking April 2001, Completed May 2002
The Land: 31 Acres, mature woodland, in Ferguson Township, Centre County.
The neighborhood: Rural, close to State Gamelands 176 (6956 acres of woodlands)
School District: State College (Ferguson Elementary)
Layout: The house is built on the highpoint of the land, on Gatesburg Ridge. The land gently slopes down away from the house towards the front and back of the property, providing natural flood protection. The house is in a secluded, private location.
Driveway: Paved and elevated driveway, 1700 feet from the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Foundation
The house foundation was built for longevity and for exceptional water resistance.
The footers for the house are poured, reinforced concrete.
The walls are poured ten inch concrete, as well as the footers and support walls for the porch, breezeway, and garage.
The concrete has extra rebar, and fiber reinforcement.
The support walls for the porch, breezeway, and garage are set six feet deep, for extra frost protection.
The French drains around the foundation were modified from the normal.
Instead of typical four inch perforated pipes, six inch pipes were used. They were set in two feet of sand, the whole assembly was wrapped with geotextured fabric. These were piped out to daylight, two hundred feet behind the house. The gutters and the drain for the basement stairs and window also are separately piped out to daylight, at the same location. This independent piping prevents backflow to the foundation drains.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shell
The shell of the house was constructed with a typical stick built, two story design.
The flooring is supported by open web trusses instead of the more commonly used wood I beams. This allows large room spans with minimal floor deflection, and allows easy mechanical installation.
The sheathing for the house is all plywood (instead of the more commonly used OSB), and house wrapped with Tyvek. Every house opening (windows, doors) are also sealed with Tyvek Flexwrap for extra protection against water damage.
The insulation is 5 inches of Icynene spray foam, which provides a vapor barrier and unsurpassed insulation. This was sprayed in all exterior walls of the house, basement, and garage, and in the attic of the house and garage. In addition, it was also sprayed in the interior walls of the bathrooms, and the master bedroom suite, for its sound deadening effect.
The exterior is brick, with aluminum soffits and dryvit EIFS dentil moulding. This provides a virtually maintenance free, durable exterior shell. The gutters have gutter toppers providing a lifetime warranty against gutter clogging. The roof is sheathed with plywood, tar paper, and lifetime architectural asphalt shingles. The structures also are protected with a comprehensive lighting protection system. The walls are nine feet in the basement and on the second floor, and ten feet on the first floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Electrical System
The electrical system is unusual. All the circuit breaker panels are set in the mechanical room in the basement. The house circuits are protected with arc-fault breakers which should almost eliminate the risk of electrical fire in the structure. There are many electrical circuits, with extra receptacles throughout the house. The mechanicals are on dedicated circuits, and there are plenty of outside receptacles and lights. There is also a “Christmas package”, with eight dedicated circuits, and additional dedicated receptacles under the windows and by the fireplace. With a simple flip of a few switches, the Christmas decorations all come to life. This system is backed up by a Caterpillar Diesel 60 kilowatt standby generator. There are two five hundred gallon diesel tanks, which can provide enough fuel for over three weeks of continuous power (longer if not run continuously) in the event of a power outage. The grounding system is a concrete encased grounding electrode in the house foundation footer, for superior longevity and grounding protection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
The house is heated and cooled by a Geothermal System, a Water Furnace Synergy 3. The geothermal system uses a vertical, closed loop system. This system provides the most efficient and least expensive means to climate control the house. There is a separate electrical meter on the geothermal unit, allowing tracking of heating/cooling costs. For the twelve months ending July 2008, the total cost was $2097. The system also has additional climate controlling units: a humidifier (for winter), a dehumidifier (for summer), a Dynamic HEPA air filter, an Aprilaire energy recovery ventilator, and a makeup air ventilation system. It also is plumbed to provide backup water heating.
The house is heated by in-floor, radiant heat in all three floors. The forced air ventilation system cools the house, and can also heat it if necessary. There are four Rumford woodburning fireplaces, which provide amazing heat and comfort. The fireplaces are built using stone, each one with a different theme. Each of the stones used has a rich history. The living room fireplace has river-recovered stone from the Susquehanna river, and the mantle and hearth are Scioto stone (from Ohio). The office has granite stone from the Adirondack Mountains (in New York), and the mantle and hearth are Montauk Blue Slate (from Brazil). The master bedroom has limestone rock, and the mantle and hearth are Indiana limestone (from the same quarry that supplied the Pentagon building reconstruction after 9/11). The basement fireplace is built from the same brick as the outside of the house, and the mantle and hearth are Tennessee quartzite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plumbing
The hot water heater is a commercial, gas fired unit for efficiency and high water capacity. This unit is plumbed to provide backup heat for the house. All the plumbing appliances are triple-piped (cold, hot, and hot-recirculation) for immediate hot water at the point of use. Water is supplied by a well on the site. There is a comprehensive water treatment system (in line chlorinator; UV light; filter; water softener). The well has been tested and there have never been any contamination problems. The septic system is an on-site, traditional tank and septic field design.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kitchen
The kitchen includes commercial equipment; a 60 inch Dynasty cooktop; a Broan Rangemaster ventilation hood; a GE warming drawer; two Amana convection ovens; a Bosch dishwasher; granite countertops; ceramic flooring; a large, walk-in pantry; and Wood-Mode cabinets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bathrooms
There are four full and one half bathrooms. The floors are ceramic tile; all the cabinets are Wood Mode; the counters in the full baths are granite, and most of the appliances are Kohler. The master bath includes a large walk in shower, and a heated Jaccuzzi whirlpool bathtub. The three upstairs bathrooms have dual sinks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Granite Countertops
The kitchen has Olive Green granite, from Turkey; the mudroom has Black Galaxy granite, from India; the boy’s bathroom has Blue Pearl granite, from Norway; the girl’s bathroom has Verdi Butterfly granite, from Brazil; and the master bathroom has Carioca Gold granite, from Brazil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Floors
The kitchen, pantry, and bathrooms are ceramic tile. The office is river-recovered heart pine. The rest of the flooring, in the upper two levels, are 5¼ inch quartersawn oak,
which allows wider floor boards but keeps dimensional stability. The basement is carpeted, and the workout room
has rubber floor tiles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miscellaneous
There are many extra, miscellaneous features of the house and property. There are 17 ceiling fans in the house; an integrated, whole-house Bose sound system; NuTone intercom system;
solid wood doors; extra cable and phone jacks; Radionics security system; Pella designer wood windows, with triple glass panes, in-the-window blinds and roll down screens; extensive built-in shelving; a Beam central vacuum system; and a large porch. The 3 car garage is heated and insulated. Internet access is high speed, DSS phone line. Television is HD Satellite. There are many brick, stone, tile, and wood cabinetry details and custom aspects. Outside, there is a 24' x 30' basketball patio, and a 20' x 50' cement patio in the back of the home..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
