House Images by Stacy Bass; Exterior by Michael Biondo
After Hurricane Sandy roared up the East Coast in October 2012, Mary Jane Liu’s Westport home was destroyed. She had to rebuild. In facing that decision, she realized an opportunity to build an energy-efficient home with the help of Sellars Lathrop Architects, Bensonwood Homes and The Pratley Company.
Her new home is a 2,400-square-foot farmhouse that was designed to be energy efficient and sustainable via such elements as factory-constructed insulated wall and roof panels, noncorrosive fiberglass windows, no-maintenance siding and trim, heat-blocking overhang, LED lighting, no-VOC finishes, high-efficiency gas furnace and mechanical ventilation.
Most of the structure was built in New Hampshire, then trucked to Westport and put up in days. With the owner’s enthusiatic involvement, final finishing then took place on site.
A New England farmhouse with nautical touches (such as sailboat designs on the shutters), it is now raised six feet off the ground to withstand the next time the water rolls in. “We love our new beach house,” says Mary Jane. “This beautifully designed house with wonderful built-ins, lots of windows, a unique attic space as well as the perfect little back deck is truly a dream house for this family.”
Natural light with warm and friendly finishes create an inviting living room