What makes this house WONDERFUL !!

• Energy saving passive solar design Many large South facing windows and seasonal solar alignment
• Energy efficient (R25 walls, R43 ceiling),
•  SIP structure; air tight, strong
• Cathedral tongue-and-grooved pine ceilings for the cabin feel
• Open stairs and loft above dining and great room
• MBR sun deck on 2^nd floor overlooking pond
• MBR suite has private Jacuzzi room w/ shower separate from bath
  

  Fireplace furnace heats entire house

• Four season tongue and groove pine porch facing backyard 1/3 acre pond, patio, swing, flowers, fire pit, etc
• Storage/storm cellar
• Sand bottomed, spring fed, swimming pond stocked with fish
• Peace, brightness, great views, and privacy
• In the woods, but not in the  woods
• Far enough, but not too far, from everything (The Dells; 25 mi, 2^nd and 4^th largest lakes in WI; 5mi, 10mi. Hiking/snowmobile trail head ¼ mi, 1000s of DNR acres; attached)
• Insulated frost wall foundation and storm cellar (R25)
• Air exchanger
• Multiple heating systems for: money saving, backup, and point-of-use efficiency
• Solar assisted hot water heater
• 80 gal heat exchanging solar/electric hot water heater
• Radiant in-floor heat with 4 zones live, 5^th for garage exercise room
• Oversized 4” well
• Oversized 3 bedroom septic system
• 9’ garage walls with 8’ vehicle doors
• Heated shop/exercise room with picture window

1440 Dyke Drive is the result of a two person search for affordable country living in a peaceful setting.  The property attracted us because of its proximity to:

• resort area:
  places people like to go to get away. So it offers entertainment, restaurants, recreation, which helps in having a value added property. Peaceful means not too close to any of these attractions.
• lakes and forests:
  habitat for animals and fish, areas to hike, fresh air.
  ½ mile from our door step is a trail head that allows peaceful, private, flat walking on a soft forest logging road that affords spectacular views of bluffs and lakes and a view of 4 counties, if you are strong enough to climb for it. In winter it serves as a groomed snow mobile trail, but not so busy you can’t cross country ski or hike it.
• wildlife:
  Adams county has one officially recognized wolf pack with several others forming, bears, fox, an official sighting of a mountain lion besides deer, martins, raccoons, and beautiful birds of all sorts.  Our home is in a Spring and Autumn daily flight path for geese and sand hill cranes as they nest and roost in the wetlands ½ mi South.
• the bluff
  The mound is visible from our living room and loft.  This mound changes appearance with seasonal and sunlight variations.

Our property offers all these things.  The 1/3 acre pond houses blue gills, bass and bull frogs in a balanced ecosystem that attracts other wildlife for viewing from the porch or deck.  It’s a great place to float in a raft and read a book without worrying you’ll be blown out to sea.  Kids love it in summer and winter.

The house walls and ceilings are built with Structurally Insulating Panels (SIP). Read about them on the internet. (Stronger than 6” stick built walls and air tight.  No varmints in the walls.)  Impressive is the R-25 wall insulating value and R-43 ceilings. It is placed on a 4’ insulated frost wall with R-25 below the ground.  This helps keep the floors warmer. There is an extra layer of insulation in the slab floor, below the radiant heat tubes.  30 year architectural shingles cover the roof.

Because of the airtight design we installed an air exchanger that efficiently exhausts moist indoor air while exchanging its heat (or cool) energy to the incoming fresh air.

The windows are Andersen energy efficient low E glass.  The large, floor level south facing windows are tempered.

The 4 season porch, is insulated, with low E glass, and is heated with the rest of the house also. It occupies space over a 4X8X12 crawl space storm cellar, and under the second floor MBR sun deck.  The porch roof is rubber membrane to prevent leaking from the deck.  The 8’ X 12’deck is free standing, (not resting on the porch), and has a special draining system so no water actually drains onto the porch roof from the deck.

I have landscaped the yard with durable plants that care for themselves with a little water provided in hot summers.  Perennials and bulbs will pop up year round.  The garden is organic earth and a mega producer, expandable.

A 4” well provides enough quality water to run two hoses, use the washing machine and take a shower at the same time.  About 10 years ago the Perrier water bottling company lost a political fight to place a bottling plant near here.   We have very good, cold water.

Even though this is only a two bedroom home, we had a 3 bedroom septic system installed.  You can have all the company you want.

The 24’ X 32’ garage is built for recreational vehicles.  Nine foot walls allow for 8’ doors.  There is an insulated apartment sized shop/exercise room with a large picture window (passive solar again) facing South.  A lean-to roof protects a year’s worth of firewood.  There is an enclosed 8’X10’ attached shed at the far end of the lean-to.

The 12’ driveway was built with a deep base of large rocks, smaller ones on top, the same way roads are built, then surfaced with granite.   It is forever!

Inside our house there are 21’ high ceilings in the living/dining area, 8’ on lower floor, cathedral on second floor) for a large spacious feeling, but more important, heat and cooled air circulate naturally and evenly through the open concept.  The entire cathedral ceiling is covered with tongue and groove varnished pine car siding. The porch ceiling is cedar, for freshness, with pine walls and trim for that woodsy cabin feel. Screened windows cover three sides for the pond view and the breeze.

The pond is about 1/3 acre, 7-8’ deep on average in the center.  Blue gills and bass survive the winters and it is cooled by underground springs for great summer swimming.  Wildlife love it.  Skating in winter.

Large South South-East and West facing windows in the living and dining/kitchen provide spectacular views (cowboy TV.)  They allow all the brightness and passive heat from the direct winter sunlight and shaded light in the summer.  On sunny, 20 degree days we allow the sun to heat our home.  Strategically located Energy Star ceiling fans keep the temperature uniform.

The 34,000 btu boiler heats the 4 zone radiant floor heat system when we are away from home for more than a day or two. (I disconnected the garage exercise room radiant system, but it is in the floor ready for use and can be connected to the house boiler.)

Our normal heat source is the 175,000 btu  fireplace/furnace specially built for heating homes this size and larger.  The wood is free, with your labor.  A fan helps to push the heat into the room, but is not necessary if the power were to go out.  Both of these heating systems provide an all over warm feeling,unlike forced air heat.  The radiant is very addicting.  We love to walk bare foot in the kitchen and bathroom when the floors are ‘on’.  The cats actually prefer to sleep on the floor!

A third source of heat is a 20,000 btu electric forced air heater mounted in- conspicuously in a wall between the bathroom, kitchen, and spare bedroom.  We use it as a back up and for days when you just need a quick morning warm-up in the kitchen and bathroom and you don’t want to build a fire or take the time to heat the floor. The MBR tub/shower room has electric baseboard. (It’s not needed, but its there).

We use the solar heater year round to provide heated solution that circulates through the special hot water heater containing a copper heat exchanger.  There is no gas on premises, except for propane used in the grills.  Our electric bill averages $125/mo.

The 34,000 btu, 240 volt air conditioner is located in the loft wall.  Cold air is blown to the lower level with a ceiling fan and circulates throughout the house evenly.  There’s that open concept thing again. Almost every room has an energy efficient ceiling fan.

The kitchen has 42” tall birch wall cabinets. The peninsula has a 5’ breakfast bar extension for mega counter space (over 16 ft).  There is also a floor to ceiling pantry cabinet and a storage/coat closet under the loft stairway that opens into the kitchen.

The master bedroom suite contains a two person Jacuzzi and a shower in one room.  The toilet and a spectacular cherry vanity/mirror/storage cabinet are located in the next room with doors to the loft and to the MBR providing privacy.  French doors connect the MBR with the loft and yield an in-bed view of Rattlesnake Mound (250’ high X1mi long) and the rising winter sun.  Off the MBR  a  sun deck (8X12) offers pond viewing in your pajamas, leaf watching in autumn (the woods is mostly maple and oak), and star- gazing year round.   Animals don’t know you are watching them from up there.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I think you could actually catch fish from this deck!