Orion Ventures, LLC

Consistent with the overall management philosophy of our farm, we wanted to construct a home that was unobtrusive and utilized raw materials from our own property to the greatest extent possible.  Climatic conditions of the area are extreme - more than 100 inches of snow, frigid temperatures, potential of 100 mph winds, thunderstorms and lightning strikes, and microbursts.  We designed our home with all of this in mind.

Our other design criteria included a desire for maximizing flexible interior space, minimal maintenance, and maximizing energy efficiency.  Interior space per unit of surface area is maximized with a circle.  While a perfect circle is impractical to build, an exterior outline that approximates a circle with standard width wall panels proved quite achievable.  Each floor was designed to be a comfortable 1500 square feet and the upper floor was engineered such that no interior load bearing walls are necessary. 

All plumbing is laid out within the central core of the home with no pipe runs along exterior walls.  This minimizes the chance of pipe freezing, even in the event of power outages.  The northern exposure of the home has no windows with large expanses of glass to the south for energy efficiencies.  Roof overhangs are designed for the lattitude, blocking summer sun while allowing direct sunlight during the winter. 

The foundation is constructed from structural foam blocks with a core of structural steel and poured concrete.