SunHawk Farms: A Place in the Sun

Описание: —Hopland, California, Home of the Solar Living Center

SunHawk Farms, an organic and biodynamic farm in Mendocino County is just minutes away from Duncan Peak as the red-tailed hawk flies. It's an extraordinary place in the sun. Entirely off the grid, the home, vineyards, and orchards of green pioneer John Schaeffer (founder of Real Goods) and his artist wife Nantzy Hensley, are models of efficient living and organic agriculture.

The vision of solar living has become reality at SunHawk. See the lavender labyrinth, vineyards, and olive orchards watered with pure spring water and nurtured by the biodynamic methods of organic farming pioneer Rudolf Steiner.

The "Spirit of the Hawk" house was designed by architect Craig Henritzy as envisioned by Schaeffer and Hensley as a round dwelling in the Native American tradition. It's built of Rastra block (85% recycled Styrofoam, 15% cement with an R-35 insulation value) and modeled after the soaring form of the red-tailed hawk. Powered by hydroelectric energy and 17 kW photovoltaic solar panels (recycled from the country of Belize after they were blown down during Hurricane Andrew), the house is in itself a solar calendar, oriented north-south with visual keys to the equinoxes and solstices built into its structure.

The beautiful park-like grounds around the pond and house were designed by Chris and Stephanie Tebbutt (who count the Queen of England as a previous client) along with SunHawk landscaper Wilfrido Tonoco. The setting is stunning amid the surrounding outcroppings of serpentine rock and the wild and untouched forest of oak and madrone. In the background there is always the sentinel of Duncan Peak.

Designed and built with love for the world and the environment, the house was constructed without any virgin timber and utilizes recycled and reclaimed lumber and re-purposed granite. It uses passive solar, radiant floor slab, and solar water heating with a Tulikivi soapstone wood stove as a secondary heat source. The cooling system is an Earth Tube System with 12" culverts buried nine feet deep in gravel that pull air cooled to a steady 67 degrees into the center of the house. Even on summer days of triple-digit temperatures, the house's interior never rises above 74 degrees.

SunHawk Farms produces lavender hydrosol and essential oil distilled by master distiller Stefan Fitzer of Old Tree Essentials, wine grapes, and a delicious Tuscan field blend of Hopland olive oil, the most delicious you've likely to find on the West Coast.

See other examples of solar-powered houses at Real Good Solar TV:
   / realgoodssolartv  

SunHawk Farms: http://www.sunhawkfarms.org
Real Goods: http://www.realgoods.com
Solar Living Institute: http://www.solarliving.com
Old Tree Essentials: http://www.otessentials.com

Diamond (Waltz of the Fireflies), closing music written and recorded by Jon Galfano in Ashland, Oregon. From the album Gem Mystique ©1997, Executive Producer: Sharon Laura Williams
http://www.jongalfano.com

Video produced in July 2013 by Randy Johnson
http://www.johnsonartworks.com/portfo...