Prefab at Your Price Point!

We're in natural home magazine!

It was a nice trip to the mailbox the other day. First, it was a bright, sunny, perfectly fall day. So any excuse to go outside is a good thing. Then, included in all the mail was a couple copies of natural home magazine. Flipping through the magazine, caught a nice article about an Aspen prefab. To my surprise, on the face page was a picture of... the ideabox fortino! How cool is that? With the headline "Prefab at Your Pricepoint" it is terrific to see ideabox recognized! In a national magazine! 

We work hard to continually evolve the entire ideabox portfolio of houses. At every opportunity we look to make our houses healthier, to use less energy, but always be an awesome living experience. Some of the houses currently in production are truly individual designs, expressing the design goals and lifestyles of the client. They are very cool, kind of hoping they too might grace the pages of national magazines like natural home!

Hope all are enjoying an incredible fall! The weather here is amazing!

Okay, So it's Fall!

It's the best time of year... well, it's supposed to be!

Finally, the sunshine is out in the Pacific Northwest. It's football season, the leaves are starting to think about changing color, temperatures are cooling (if not a bit tooo much this fall). I keep looking for those warm days and brisk evenings, kind of hoping we get some of that to make up for the summer we didn't quite get.

Lot's going on this fall!

First, last week I was fortunate to participate as a speaker at the Residential Design Forum and as a juror for Futureshack, both events presented by the AIA Seattle. It was an interesting discussion about housing. What will it be. How is it being done now, in an era of challenged financing (construction/development financing & home buyer lending). Is home ownership the big thing it's supposed to be? Or will it become a service product - something to use and move on from - suggesting perhaps ownership isn't as important as livability and portability.... kind of paralleling new models of employment and stability. Is all this a discussion of now, as we approach the end of this challenged economic environment, and will we just return to "normalcy" later?

Futureshack was fun, and compelling, in its second year of existence. To me, any opportunity architects can have to have a public discourse with their community is a cool thing. The fact Futureshack focuses on housing, something everyone can relate to, is the perfect subject matter. AIA Seattle staff and their participating co-chairs did a terrific job organizing the competition and creating public discourse public. During the live public jury presentation at Seattle Center, we were positioned on a brightly lit elevated stage in front of seemingly hundreds of people. Me being gallant and polite, got stuck with this huge modern (very cool) winged chair thing that you sat back inside. Now, I'm not a big guy, so this big chair kind of consumed me, which while very cool for watching football, is not so cool for sitting in front of a bunch of a few hundred people on an elevated stage with bright lights! (Everybody else had practical chairs). It did give me an air of authority however, assuming anyone in the audience could actually see me. It was fun!

I came away thinking housing will evolve more from the holdings of old to something more of a serviceable purpose... a kind of "make my life easier so I can go do stuff..." role. Size, we think, will diminish as we realize the enclosed space we actually use. And design hopefully will take a more prominent role as the concept of house becomes an identifier, kind of like cars, or computers, or the kinds of restaurants we eat at determine who and what we are. We think lives will become simpler, more focused on experiences than acquisition. 

What do you think? We, ideabox, just want our houses to be a part of a fun lifestyle. We want our houses to do their part by embracing small footprints, be responsible in use of materials, use very little energy, and be a total blast to live in... and around!

If you're reading this, and in Portland, we'll be at the Street of Dreams house from 10 till noon or so tomorrow. Come by and say Hi!

A Mini Street of ideabox Dreams!

It's a mini "OPEN HOUSE" of the ideabox Street of Dreams house this weekend. The fortino house is still on location at 95th & Cornell, in NW Portland. We're thinking from 10AM till 4 PM. It's at the Arbor Vista development, who are very cool in allowing us to keep the house there for a little while. 

This is the first blog post since we had started the Street of Dreams - which - was amazing. Thousands of people came by, most quite surprised with what they saw. We followed the "big house" of the street, quite a transition from almost 6,000 SF and a $1.7 million price tag to the 1,200 SF $225,000 ish (installed w/ typical lot cost). We were quite pleased with their reaction. The modern design, the clarity of spaces and materials, the idea that houses can live beyond their walls with creatively designed outdoor "rooms" - most were delightfully suprised.

We liked the smiles. (And all those who thought it was the best house on "the Street.")

Special and continued thanks goes to Hip Furniture for their incredibly well received furnishings so elegantly designed by Unleash Design Studio that really showcased how the the house can live. When we designed the fortino, we were going for simple and cool lifestyle, and really got that! 

To get in the house, you had to get up to it. And with the incredible landscape design by Schultz & Long that was so quickly and professionally installed by Aspen Creek Landscaping and decks by "Bob-the-deck-Guy" (our name for him). the house truly was an indoor/outdoor experience.

And it's all still there for all to see - free - through the middle of October. Call for an appointment, or come by on the next few weekends!

It's Magic on the Street of Dreams

You gotta see how cool dreams can be!

The NW Natural Street of Dreams is incredible. Houses and interiors that reflect today's active lifestyle. New green technologies that literally give back - from solar hot water systems to pervious pavers to finish materials - all stuff you can do at home! And incredible design talent from the homes themselves to spectacular interiors and amazing landscapes.

And a pretty cool modern prefab.... gotta see that!

And now you can see "the Street" with a discounted ticket! Print the attached coupon... it's like the Street & a latte!

ideabox on the street

Getting Better Every Day!

The landscaping has arrived and the crafting of the exterior design begins. Thanks to the hard work by Arbor Homes with the county, decks are finally underway today by Bob the Deck Guy (our name for him). The deck designs by Schultz & Long continue the modern theme begun at the street as seen in the picture above. It will be a magical display!

It's like a giant puzzle, the biggest piece being the ideabox fortino and corresponding pieces going around and within the house itself. It's such a talented design team assembled for the Street of Dreams, the result will change the way you think about residential living.

The installation by Aspen Creek Landscaping is incredible. Baca Metal Works is back with metal planters and his rain catchment system.

More coming tomorrow. The interiors are coming together just as exciting as the exteriors!

The 2010 NW Natural Street of Dreams begins Saturday, (and runs though August!) 

Come See Us!

ideabox on the street

Getting to Amazing

With each day the transformation continues. The landscape design by Rich Schultz being installed by Aspen Creek continues with incredible support from Arbor Homes, who's support has been above and beyond the call... it's a modern home living environment growing in front of our eyes!

Today is "movement day" as the outdoor environment continues and furnishings begin to arrive for the indoor environment. As we were preparing the inside of the house for today's deliveries, the sun was setting off to the west and the territorial views beyond started to twinkle. The evening's cool breeze was wafting through, it was easy to get excited by just how cool the finished house will be. 

The NW Natural Street of Dreams opens on Saturday. We'll be ready! Come see us!

ideabox on the street

Design is a Series of Details

It often begins with a napkin. Or any available medium to sketch out an idea, a thought, a concept. What happens between those initial thoughts and sketches and a completed work is the mystery of the details. The ideabox display at the 2010 NW Natural Street of Dreams is very much an exercise of thousands of details, from the house itself extending through the landscape.

In our very compressed timeline, the magical transformation of an empty site a week ago to show piece is underway. Hundreds of details coming together at an incredible rate, the creative process in action. We're looking forward to showing you the amazing result.

On my way up to "the Street." More pictures to come - stay tuned!