So you have a question? You may find the answer below. If not, feel free to contact us directly and we'll do our best to respond quickly and thoroughly. This list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) has been developed from questions that others have asked, so your question may well make it onto this section.
It began as a quest to make us healthy (Susan has an extreme sensitivity to a wide range of synthetic chemicals) and later merged with our belief that saving the planet requires lots of individual day-to-day lifestyle changes that propel, support and encourage environmental responsibility and sustainability. And then we became intrigued with the challenge of "greenovating" elegant, historic properties, often overlooked by green designers more attracted to funky, modern properties. Our passion has evolved with each new project as we strive to make every one as green as possible and to share the knowledge and experience with others we meet along the way. We hope that the Lapine House will serve as a positive example of what an environmentally friendly, non-toxic renovation looks like, smells like, feels like and lives like. Call it the ripple effect or just old fashioned word-of-mouth. We aspire to inspire contractors, realtors and home buyers to imagine the benefits of a healthy, earth friendly living environment.
In essence, we see green renovation and green design as striving to conserve natural resources, improve energy efficiency, and optimize the safety and healthiness of a living space for its occupants. We believe that green design offers vital benefits including environmental conservation; minimizing our global footprint; reduced fossil fuel consumption; decreasing construction waste and byproducts; encouraging and supporting progressive, responsible businesses; educating contractors, suppliers, realtors and real estate buyers; prudent, intentional living; healthier work environment for contractors during renovation and occupants after renovation; a beautiful, natural home that you love to come home to!
Carefully. Slowly. We have tried to renovate the Lapine House in a manner that honors the house's history while respecting the health of our planet, the contractors, the future occupants and ourselves. While developing healthy renovation solutions that are environmentally low impact, we have simultaneously balanced a variety of historical goals including rehabilitation for residential use; preservation of interior and exterior features, finishes and construction techniques that characterize the building and its environment; and differentiating new alterations and additions from original construction while maintaining compatible scale, materials, finishes and techniques to maintain the historic integrity of the house.
All of the crew who worked on the Lapine House live locally. We were so pleased with most of the contractors who worked on this project that we reenlisted the majority of them to undertake an even more ambitious "greenovation" and restoration project, an1823 Federal home in Essex which will become our new home!
Who are we? George and Susan. A husband and wife team with a passion for design, renovation, healthy living, travel and the great outdoors. Recent independent/joint accomplishments include redesigning several Manhattan apartments; restoring a Northern Westchester house and barn; restoring a late 1800's full-floor (3002m) flat in Paris' Faubourg St. Germain neighborhood; concept-ing and designing a New York City restaurant, renovating a 40 foot sailboat interior; and revitalizing a Lake Champlain waterfront restaurant. We've recently moved to Essex where Susan specializes in "green" design projects, and George promotes travel adventures and pretends to write a book.
We fell in love with the Lapine House for many reasons. Principally, the house incorporates many smart building concepts. Its site and oversize windows ensure that sun floods some interior space during all daylight hours. Its gracious front porch offers shade during hot summer days, and shelter from inclement weather. Situated a block and a half from the center of the town, the porch fosters socialization with Essex residents and visitors alike. We believe that ecologically friendly communities emerge more readily in close-knit towns with consistent interaction amongst its members, and where commercial and residential priorities and concerns overlap because of their proximity. While working on the house and sitting on the front porch for breaks, we met nearly every person in the town. We received many compliments, but we also faced tough, thoughtful questions from concerned neighbors about the project. Any renovation in the town of Essex has a major impact on other homes and businesses, and we were pleased to see that Essex residents held us accountable for our actions. That experience served as a principle factor in choosing our new residence, also on Main Street several blocks north of the Lapine House. With a short walk to town and all its amenities, the Lapine House encourages its occupants to rely less on motorized vehicles, as does the very manageable front and back lawn which can be maintained with a small push mower. Inside the home, beautiful trim and hardwood floors, untouched since the turn of the century, were additional details that drew us to the Lapine House. The interior offers generously proportioned rooms that didn't necessitate any significant reconfiguration. Only two room entries in the house were closed and two new ones were added. One closet wall was removed to enlarge the master bath, and one wall was added in what was the kitchen pantry, to allow for a half bath downstairs. The existing door surrounds were painstakingly removed and relocated to the new locations. Minimal demolition and construction equates to economic and ecological savings. We believe that revitalizing beautiful old homes is the ultimate recycling initiative where the community, the environment and the home's occupants win.
Yes and yes. In fact, the Lapine House attic could easily be converted into an art studio, yoga room, home office or play area. It's huge! With over a thousand square feet of space, lofty cathedral ceilings and full sized windows on three sides, the attic offers all sorts of possibilities. An electrical subpanel was installed in the attic to facilitate subsequent renovation, and the plumbing column along the southwest corner of the house would even make adding a bathroom in the attic convenient and affordable. Or, of course, you can simply use the attic for a massive storage area if you prefer.
Like so many Essex homes, the Lapine House basement was a dank, unusable semi-subterranean "black hole", but we've transformed it into a dry, spacious, well-illuminated utility and storage space. With windows on three sides for natural light and air circulation, a new concrete pad with in-floor drainage for moisture management, ample headroom and a secure exterior entrance, the basement has been converted into an ideal space for storing lawn and gardening equipment, bikes, kayaks and even the perfect environment for cellaring your favorite wine vintages.
Uncertain whether the Lapine House will be occupied seasonally or year round, and in an effort to minimize unnecessary material consumption, insulation was installed only in essential areas during renovation. Because hot air rises, the attic is a significant point of heat loss in most houses. To eliminate this heat loss, we thoroughly insulated the attic and rebuilt the floor. In addition, we insulated the walls of the kitchen and full bathrooms to ensure that plumbing was well insulated. In both installations we used Johns Manville formaldehyde-free insulation. Although this house has always been inhabited year round with little or no insulation, we would encourage new occupants to consider installing blown cellulose insulation which is a simple, inexpensive and eco-friendly option if they intend to reside in the home during the winter.
You may contact us through the website for information related to the Lapine House renovation and other greenovation projects Emmet Carter has undertaken. The Lapine House was shown by appointment and frequent open houses during the summer of 2007, but is currently occupied. However, please check back soon and we will be posting a photo tour and a video tour.
People frequently ask us this question. We spend a great deal of time researching green products and green building techniques, and every day we learn more about this rapidly developing field. Fortunately, information on earth and human-friendly renovations have been steadily increasing with growing public interest. Additionally, each green renovation we undertake yields more knowledge that we in turn try to pass along to others.
David Johnston's Green Remodeling: Changing the World One Room at a Time and Jennifer Roberts' Good Green Homes: Creating Better Homes for a Healthier Planet lead the parade of invaluable books which have guided our learning process, and the U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) website has provided numerous resources and guidelines. The internet has proven helpful in our research, as have Joel from Green Building Supply in Iowa, and Patrick from Green Things in Vermont, two online green product retailers. In addition to supplying us with hard-to-find materials, Joel and Patrick are veritable repositories of "greenovation" advice. As we mentioned, when possible, we have used local products, like local wood, but for now, sometimes the smartest products come from places like California.