Gorgeous homes line the streets of San Francisco’s prestigious Noe Valley. Any one of these is easily priced from one million dollars, and can boast luxurious amenities such as elaborate exterior and inerior Victorian detailing, marble floors, Meile appliances and walk-in closets. But on Clipper Street sits a singular home with beauty that goes beyond skin-deep. In addition to offering a wine cellar and teak floors, this home gathers its own water for household use and supplies its own electricity through solar panels. The Clipper House, as it is known, has been dubbed, “The greenest house in San Francisco,” by The San Francisco Chronicle.
Built by Lorax Development and John Maniscalo Architects on an old asphalt parking lot, the house is a pioneering feat of sustainable materials and systems. Clipper Street was a normal 10-month project, and cost approximately $350 per square foot, about 20 percent higher than non-green houses.The ground-breaking system built into this house is the rooftop rain catchment, the first in San Francisco. Created by Wonderwater, Inc., the catchment system gathers and filters rain water, storing it in three tanks that hold as much as 10,800 gallons of water that is used to wash clothes, flush toilets and water the garden.
The rooftop solar panels are tied into the catchment, providing 80 percent of the home’s hot water, as well as its heat. Radiant tubing diverts some of the heated water underneath the subflooring, keeping the loft-like home cozy in cold months.
Many green products also were used in the construction of Clipper House. For instance, the three-story, 2,600-square-foot home’s foundation is made of high volume fly ash concrete. Fly ash is a byproduct of power plants that is normally dumped into landfills, but when added to cement creates a denser and smoother surface. The home’s insulation is made of recycled blue jeans, otherwise known as Ultra-Touch, a carcinogen-free material.
Inside, the home is a testament that the words green and luxury do not have to be antonyms. The richly stained hardwood floors are made from 100-year-old teak railroad ties shipped in from South East Asia. Kitchen counters by Terra Mai resemble slate, but are actually made of compressed milk cartons and recycled paper. The cherry cabinets are fashioned by Zwanette Design from FSC certified woods and formaldehyde-free substrates. Low VOC paints and caulks, a TREX deck and hemp carpeting add the finishing touches.
Other high-end products lend to the rich environment: Marvin Low E windows, Cat-5 wiring, double ovens in the kitchen, a wine cellar, copper drains and gutters, and a master suite with a view, walk-in closet and laundry.
Although the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house is just nine feet wide, the architects created a feeling of openness using skylights and large communal living spaces with nine- and fourteen-foot ceilings. Floor-to-ceiling windows reveal views sweeping east and west.
If the saying, “Pretty is as pretty does,” is true, the Clipper House is one gorgeous home. Living green can’t get any more luxurious.
