The McKinley residence, locally known as the Californication house, was home to David Hertz and his family for fifteen years. It was designed in two phases: The first phase featured two separate volumes connected by a bridge. Years later, the adjacent lot became available, and the house is now a compound. It comprises four discrete two-story buildings linked by three enclosed bridges that all face onto the courtyard, in a style one might call "Balinese Modern."

David Hertz's goal was to make the house the greenest house of its size he'd ever seen. Hertz used this house as a case study for green building techniques. He chose materials that support environmental sustainability. Recycled and FSC certified sustainable woods such as Ipe, Mahogany, and Fir, are used throughout the house. Much of the concrete is Syndecrete®, which contains about 41 percent recycled content and is twice as light, with twice the compressive strength, of regular concrete. Inside the house, Syndecrete acts kind of as a "solar sink" for passive solar energy transfer, storing up the sun's warmth during the day, and keeping it from overheating the interior, and slowly releasing that heat during the night. Hertz chose Syndecrete® flooring because it eliminates mold and dust caused by carpet, requires less maintenance and is more environmentally sensitive than other floor finishes. Hertz used zero VOC paint to maintain excellent indoor air quality and eliminate a forced-air system and carpeted floors, progenitors of mold and dust. Twenty solar panels on the roof help generate about 70 percent of the home's electricity needs. Other roof sections are given over to flat-plate collectors that provide hot water to the water heater, which sends it into a radiant heating system on the concrete floors. This building is a successful case study in architecture, proving that a building can be aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible. The house was rewarded the Sustainable Living Award by the Eco Home Network.

Environmental Features

-Solar Energy – an array of 20 Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof supply around 70% of the home's energy needs

-Evacuated Tube Collectors and Flat Plate Collectors – providing domestic hot water to the water heater and pool solar hot water

-Vacuum tubing on the roof, which uses a parabolic collector to focus the sun's rays, provides additional hot water

-Recycled FSC certified sustainable woods such as Ipe, Mahogany, and Fir

-Much of the concrete is Syndecrete®, a light-weight concrete that uses

-41% recycled content

-Zero VOC paints

-Concrete floors

-High-performance heat-mirror glazing and abundant natural lighting

-The pool system uses ionization and silver, copper, and Platinum oxidizer, eliminating the need for chlorine

-Solar Hydronic radiant system and programmable thermostatic controls and in-floor and exterior sensors

-State of the Art whole house lighting and lighting controls

-Thermostatically controlled automatic skylights and windows

-Whole-house ventilation systems

-Passive Ventilation – eliminating the need for a forced-air system