Sitting atop a hill overlooking 125 acres of beautiful New England countryside, stands what appears to be a historic farmhouse. However, The New Farmhouse is both a classic style home with a modern, sustainable twist. The clients had a specific vision to build a restful retreat from their city life with state-of-the-art technology to generate enough energy to sustain its own needs–in short, the house is Net-Zero.

Often projects like these fail at combining both a net-zero building and traditional design–often resulting in a “modern farmhouse”, a term often identified by its focus on sustainable technology and new building materials. This house is designed and built with an eye to historic detail and building techniques first, followed by durability and finally with an interest in sustainable technology and systems.

Functioning with no fossil fuels, the house was able to achieve the other requirement of being a completely sustainable property. Using a geothermal heating system, and ten-kilowatt solar array to power the geothermal system and provide all of the electric power for the property, the house utilizes the renewable energy of the sun and the natural regulated heat of the earth. A storm water collection system provides water to the outdoor shower,  fresh-water pool, irrigation, and toilets within the house.

Additionally this authentic modern farmhouse has become a model for many “new old house” design enthusiasts.