John Spillman from Earth Advantage talks about the Energy Performance Score “EPS” at our Lithia Way home, during the Green and Solar Tour. The tour sold out this year, fifty people toured green built homes and Solar installations in Talent today.

Our Spec Home at 1655 Lithia Way in Talent, is on the Green and Solar Tour this year, October 20th.

Quote from the tour schedule:

“10:30-10:45 Bus down the street to 1655 Lithia Way, unoccupied spec home built by River Lane Homes. Earth Advantage, Energy Star, Features ducts inside, two story, open floor plan Earth Advantage Gold. John Spillman will do the EPS presentation and the Earth Advantage testing demo. Other speakers Dustin Knapp, River Lane’s project manager will talk about indoor air quality and values of building with ducts inside.”

Check out the Green And Solar Brochure   And the tour schedule  GreenSoalar tour

Chelsea Court Ad

I just submitted this Chelsea Court ad to the Talent News and Review. It’s great to work with my neighbors!

Two homes are finished and two are sold. Get in touch with us if you want to customize a floor plan on one of the three remaining lots. It’s fun to be selling new energy efficient homes in the Rogue Valley!

http://www.facebook.com/TalentNews

http://roguerambler.com

Yesterday, Ray, Laura, and I made our way to local taco mecca La Tapatia, just blocks away from our Chelsea Court project, to meet with local Earth Advantage representative Fred Gant.

During his Energy Star inspection of the first house in the subdivision, Fred, noting the eco-friendly building materials, had suggested that our homes would qualify at the Silver Level of Earth Advantage Certification and that we should document our practices to receive it.

Initially, the local Green Building Consultant thought we were only a point away from certifying for Silver. During our meeting and examination of the Earth Advantage point system, we discovered we had approximately 23 more points than we needed, making  110 Chelsea Court our first Earth Advantage home.

River Lane Homes has been proudly serving Southern Oregon for over twenty years! We are a family run operation, with a combined total of seventy five years construction experience, on over two hundred fifty homes. From small mountain cabins, to sprawling estates, RLH has done it all. We are committed to building green and efficient homes, while providing our clients with satisfaction and peace of mind.

Thought we would throw in a little update from Brandon. They got settled into Nelson in a cute little strawbale home. They then started a reforestation company and planted two-hundred thousand trees during the month of June. Summer was spent travelling, including a visit back here to Oregon for Dustin and Eva’s wedding. Myles started kindergarten and Brandon has been volunteering to build a new playground at the school. Winter has now settled over the area and they have been skiing right from the front door!

Brandon has just recently taken the position of Operations Manager at Mandala Homes and we are excited to learn more about these amazing round homes. Hopefully we get the chance to build one soon to experience it for ourselves.

A little bit about Mandala:
‘We love the topic of HOME.Green, sustainable, meaningful round dwellings and gathering spaces. www.mandalahomes.com We ship in a kit. Anywhere in the world! Round homes, temples, art retreat buildings , music and yoga studios.’

River Lane Homes has begun construction on the first of seven new homes on Chelsea Court -just off Colver Road, in Phoenix.

The lots, larger than most modern-day city lots, will accommodate RV parking and generous yards along with the 3-bedroom, 2-bath energy efficient homes.

Chelsea Court residents will be within close walking distance to Phoenix Schools and Library.

Walking distance to all the local schools!

For full Google map, go here.

UPDATED May 11: I added images from the trip. These are located along Kootenay Lake as we arrived into the Nelson area.

The time has come for Jacqui, our two boys, and myself to move north to Canada. This has been in the works for quite some time and it’s exciting to be embarking on this new journey in life. Our destination is Nelson, BC which has been listed by mothering magazine as one of the best places in Canada to raise a child. It is an eclectic mountain town and happens to be where we got engaged eleven years ago. Our oldest is heading into kindergarten this fall and we want to be settled into the community to make this fun and easy for him.

I will sure miss all the wonderful people I have worked with over the past eight years at River Lane Homes. Not sure what direction work will take me but excited to turn this corner. Peace and best wishes to everyone!

For historical reference here is what used to be about me on the About page:

Brandon framed and wired his first home at the age of twelve. At the age of seventeen he followed his passion for whitewater kayaking and turned pro, travelling the world on the competition circuit. Brandon’s dedication to kayaking ranked him in the top three in the US, and top ten worldwide for freestyle.  Brandon also achieved several world records, as well as being the first to navigate over one hundred stretches of difficult whitewater around the globe. After ten years on the pro Kayaking circuit, Brandon settled down to raise a family.  At this time, he took on the role as principle designer and project manager for the family company. He and his lovely wife, Jacqui, have two amazing young boys who are already showing off their constructive and athletic genes.

Fall is a beautiful time in the Rogue Valley. One of the best places to enjoy the colorful leaves is in historic Jacksonville. Recently, the family and I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon soaking up the grandeur of it all.

Here is an excerpt from the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce website:

“Nestled among rolling hillsides of evergreens, at the entrance to the Applegate Valley Wine Country, lies the historic town of Jacksonville. Having preserved its gold rush roots from the 1800′s, it is one of few towns able to boast its designation as a National Historic Landmark. Take in a little of our history by strolling the old cemetery, visiting the museums, or riding the trolley to view the many historic homes and landmarks.”

“But this town will charm you with more than its history. The quaint brick and wooden buildings now house an eclectic mix of shops, plentiful restaurants, spas, and unique lodging- not to mention fantastic wineries dotted along the valley. The Woodlands Trail System offers you a chance to take in the scenery, learn some history, and enjoy our fresh air. Jacksonville will dazzle and surprise you with our amazing selection of the best of what you love.”

What an interesting project! A friend acquired this property through the repossession process. The house was started but only to the point of being framed up. We were asked to finish it.

Upon inspection we discovered that the framing was in desperate need of some key structural elements. Then there was the fact that there were no windows facing toward the river and the view! We drew up plans to extensively modify the floorplan and turn it into a mountain lodge while also incorporating the necessary structural features.

We were able to transform a disaster into a showpiece. Click here for the Virtual Tour!

The previous owners had
excavated the hillside above the house to the point that it had slid until it was against the house! With our equipment we were able to cut the slope to the proper angles and step it to prevent further erosion.