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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Modern home blends efficiency, accessibility
WASHINGTON — When Virginia and Rick Bordwell had their new home designed, they had two main goals in mind. They wanted energy efficiency, and they wanted every room accessible to their family member, who uses a wheelchair.
The result was a carefully engineered house at the edge of farmland once owned by Rick Bordwell’s grandfather, who used it as an orchard. An overhang on the south side creates “passive solar” heating, shading windows in the summer, but allowing for direct light into the home in winter. Brick and concrete interior walls absorb heat, and release it slowly.
The home has terrazzo floors, upstairs and down, which are heated. While the home has stairs, it’s got multiple outdoor entrances reachable on wheels. Bathrooms and showers are large enough for those who need assistance to use them. A kitchenette and guest bedroom downstairs are set up to facilitate a live-in caregiver, should the need arise.
The Bordwells moved into the modern-looking house in May, a stark contrast from their former home of 47 years, built in 1921, where Virginia Bordwell said her daughter couldn’t come home because the doors were too narrow, and there were far too many stairs.
“We know these people that we worked with, and we wanted them to do something interesting, we wanted them to do something different, and maybe learn or refine techniques, and to enjoy it, and to be proud of it,” Virginia said. “I think we got it, I really do.”
Virginia said she and her husband pulled architectural inspiration from across Iowa. The wine cellar downstairs has a floor decorated with scrap stone material from countertops, based on a similar floor she saw in a restaurant in Waterloo. The interior heating walls have narrow bricks, closely resembling those of the Woodbury County Courthouse. Stair panels are open above a landing and closed below it, much like a home she once visited in Burlington. Sudden changes in ceiling height match the style of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Stockman House in Mason City.
“It’s just visual accumulation over a lot of years,” Virginia said. “All my life, I’ve had an interest in architectural elements. I spent 12 years on the Iowa Finance Authority Board, and was involved in tax credit projects … the ideas are old.”
The structure was an unusual but exciting challenge for builders at Strabala Construction.
Owner Brian Strabala said it was a “joy to work on,” with the home’s complexities offering new challenges for the construction team.
“Usually, when I build a house, I’ve got four pages of house plans,” he said. “An architect drew these plans with passive solar in mind, and there were actually (about) 28 pages of plans, with a lot of cross-sections.”
In another personal touch, the entryway floor has a compass design, which accurately points due north. A contractor put his face to the floor as it was installed, in an effort to ensure perfect accuracy.
While perhaps a bold aesthetic choice, Virginia Bordwell said it was among the home’s most important features.
“We have an abstract company, we’ve got to know where we are!” she said.
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
