Author: Stu Turner

The Site

My first step in was (obviously) finding a lot. Fortunately for me, there were still quite a few deals back in 2013, due to the residual effects of the crash of 2008. Even though I have a real estate license, I was not a member of the local board of REALTORS so I enlisted the help of a local agent. Eventually I found a 50′ x 100′ infill lot in a developed neighborhood that was gently sloping, with decent southern exposure. There was a huge oak in the front of the property and several medium sized pine trees. The property was REO, owned by an out of state bank, so I was able to negotiate the price down a bit.

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Facing east, looking at the large oak and the future driveway location.

The location was also good from a real estate perspective. Walking distance to the lake, a 5 minute bike ride to the main village, and a 10 minute drive to one of the ski resorts.

Big Bear is a mountain resort that is a 2.5 hour drive from Santa Monica pier, and a 1 hour drive from some parts of the suburbs of the greater Los Angeles area. The lot was located at 6790 feet of elevation in a climate of 6,598 Heating Degree Days and 89 Cooling Degree Days. Big Bear is the home of two ski resorts, and a solar observatory – it boasts 300+ sunny days a year. Average high is 80 in July, average low is 20 in January. It gets about 20 inches of rain and 120 inches of snow per year.

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Goals

This project started with many goals, that often conflicted, and unfortunately resulted in more compromises than I originally planned on. Here are some of the major ones…

  • Build an energy efficient structure following the “Pretty Good House” guidelines. I first read about this informal building standard on Fine Homebuilding’s blog Green Building Advisor.  As a basic roadmap for an energy efficient house, it made sense to me. Even though I am a LEED GA, I wasn’t seeking an outside certification like the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). But I did want to incorporate as many “green building” features as I could manage and afford. My main goal in terms of energy efficiency was to get as close to as I could to “net zero energy” use, by installing solar panels and primarily electric appliances.
  • Improve indoor air quality by eliminating internal combustion (gas appliances) sources,  VOCs, and dust collectors such as carpeting. California Building Code (it is said the baseline code is equivalent to LEED Gold) already requires low-VOC paints, adhesives and sealants, as well as continuous mechanical ventilation to meet the ASHRAE 62.2 standard.
  • Build a house that could function as a profitable vacation rental: 3 bedrooms + loft, 3 bathrooms and 2200 square feet. An outdoor spa would be a huge plus from a rental perspective, but would also be an energy hog, so we decided on a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom instead.
  • Build the house as cost effectively as possible. I would be the general contractor, and I planned to do as much of the air sealing, insulation, and finishing work as possible. Admittedly, this would be difficult considering I have a  job and kids, and the building site is a 2.5 hour drive away. In the end, I managed about 75 eight hour work days, over a two year period.