PREVIEW "fortino" SATURDAY OCT 3 in Salem

While it won't be completely finished, the new fortino will be close enough to have a PREVIEW OPEN HOUSE. In conjunction with the Salem Green+Solar Home Tour, Saturday, October 3, from 11 to 4, both the ideabox campus and the fortino will be open.

We are very excited to preview the new fortino as it finishes up for its debut at the Seattle Home Show. For more information, directions, or questions, call us at 503.510.4789 or email at tellmemore@ideabox.us

it's about passion

ideabox is a concept derived from passion. A passion for designing houses that make living in and around them fun. About putting together a house that uses very little energy. Finding the right blend of materials. And mostly about bringing a little smile to your face every time you open the front door!

A lot of that little smile comes from a passion for design. Looking for solutions that find a balance of space, playing with natural light, finding forms that speak to the lifestyle inside & out! It's also a passion to integrate both energy & resource efficiency with style and presence. And a passion to deliver a very cool solution cost effectively mixing terrific products and appropriate pricing.

All that passion is only as good as its execution. For that you need a passionate construction team. A team of craftsman who take the time to do it right - the first time, every time. Engineering that performs, materials solutions that answer crazy design requirements, and a building team that is all over the crafting of a home.

The new "fortino" house is an incredible example of a design solution realized. You have to check it out - it will amaze you. It amazes us! And we're around it a lot! Seattle can't come soon enough..... we can't wait to show it to you.

Thoughts from a Home Show

If you follow ideabox, (and this blog), you'll know we were at the recently completed Portland Home & Garden Show. It was a great show, this year being a combined event featuring boats, RV's, and home and garden. A very professionally presented show featuring terrific displays by all the vendors, creative features including a room decorating competition, landscaping displays and plant sales, all surrounded by RV motor homes, trailers, and water craft.

I am always amazed by the amount of talent and innovation found at shows like these. Among the big product manufacturers were weaved landscape design and installation firms, interior designers, craftsman builders, and an ever widening array of new products by the larger manufacturers. There was a display by the ever clever smart car in one area of the show, and not far away an $800K motor mansion on wheels. Something we keyed into and will explore is a prefabricated shed roofed carport with a roof of PV panels - a terrific solution to proper solar orientation combined with a terrific use.

But the real reason for this post is to quickly comment on how positive the audience was. You couldn't help but get a sense of more confidence in the economy - more people searching for solutions, more enthusiasm for doing things, a better feel for where things are going.

Also wanted to thank all of you who came by our little booth in Portland. The response to the drawings of the new house was incredible. (I literally just left the production facility and have to admit "fortino" will be even more special than drawings can depict. Look out Seattle!)

New fortino being well received in Portland

We are delighted with the response to the soft unveiling of the new "fortino" at the Portland Home & Garden Show, running through Sunday at the Portland Expo. Though we've brought poster graphics and flyers for the new house at our booth here at the show, the reaction has been terrific. The house itself is under construction, on schedule for its debut coming up in Seattle.

It's been an encouraging show as people have a lot more confidence in their own economic position. More discussions about projects, more excitement in the air.

If you're looking for something "cool" to do this weekend, get out of the heat at the air conditioned Portland Expo. Come see us at booth 814 for a sneak peek!

It's Sunday at the Portland Home Show. It's been a great four days, people are excited, looking forward to Seattle!

Visit our booth at the Portland Home & Garden Show, today thru Sunday at the Expo. We have drawings & info on the new "fortino" house now underway!

new fortino underway

Construction has begun on the next big thing in small living. "fortino" by ideabox explores a new design direction. A little more modern, some new materials, fortino continues our quest of offering green built energy efficient prefab homes that are all about an active lifestyle.

The two pictures show a section of the "fortino" floor in its early stages of construction. The 2x8 floor framing is being insulated after the engineered insulated duct work and plumbing lines have been placed. While the floor was being built, the interior and exterior walls and the roof were under construction in another location. The second image shows the same floor, now with the walls and roof in place.

A couple quick observations... note the lack of waste material. At every opportunity building materials are ordered to length and size with little to no excess. Being built to ENERGY STAR and eco-rated standards, the insulation is carefully placed and will be fully lofted before sheathing is placed.

Keep checking - we'll continue to add images as the house comes together.