Hentsh Residence

Colorado Springs, Colorado

4,131 square feet

The Hentsh residence sits on 5 wooded acres on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, Colorado. After years of living all over the world, the Hentshes were ready to settle down in Colorado, so they found a lovely, sloped piece of land perfect for a solar home design. Since they were retiring, their most important goal was to have a universal design so they could ‘age in place’ and never move again! All of their main living areas and one garage are on the main floor, with no steps, wider doorways and larger bathrooms. Their home opens out onto porches, patios and decks. Because their lot is steeply sloped, we nestled the guest suite below and it opens out onto a lush yard and garden.

Building a custom passive solar home designed to be sustainable and efficient was also important to the Hentshes. Today they enjoy a cheerful, open, universal floor plan, with plenty of south and east light and a greenhouse, with skylights and south windows. Space for an elevator was planned, but not built initially. The guest suite below has 3 bedrooms and two baths plus a great room and a garage, perfect for the whole family. This rustic and woodsy mountain home design blends beautifully with the Colorado landscape. This part of Colorado has sunshine all winter long, so the passive solar design features brighten and warm the home while the super insulated, structural insulated panelized (SIP) building system keeps the indoor temperatures more stable year round.