Rougemont Farmhouse is strategically oriented for solar gain on a 16-acre parcel bordered by a creek in rural Rougemont, an unincorporated community that spans Durham and Person counties. The homeowner, a transplant from Northern California, sought a rural setting to accommodate a future barn and to provide pastureland for "Duke," her beloved horse, who will join her at their pastoral homestead soon.

One of architect Arielle Schechter's first decisions was to have the long driveway hug the edge of the property line, leaving most of the natural landscape untouched. Before construction, scrub-covered much of the land. "Now native grasses are coming in naturally, which just adds to the beauty of the context," she noted. Driving onto the site provides a glimpse of the house in the distance.

Most farms in rural North Carolina are comprised of groups of small outbuildings: a livestock barn, chicken coop, hay and feed storage shed, etc. A modern interpretation of that concept inspired the design for this "farmhouse," Schechter said, with form, lines, and materials as unpretentious as a Carolina corn crib.

In fact, Schechter's client requested "something modest" to complement the context, which pleased the architect. "I personally love modest houses because they age well and they aren't pretentious," she said of the single-story house that includes approximately 2000 square feet of heated space plus a garage, a small dining deck off the kitchen, and a screened porch with a 180-degree view from the southwest corner.

In plan, the house has only two bedrooms because the owner preferred to use a third bedroom's square footage to enlarge the central living-dining-kitchen core and the main bedroom suite. To do that, Schechter moved the bedroom out at an angle with a cantilevered projection toward the surrounding meadow. This relocated the garage doors farther away from the front view of the house and created a small interior courtyard -- one of this architect's favorite spaces to create for her clients.

The second bedroom is both a guest bedroom and office space with a huge window facing the north for glare-free lighting. A Murphy bed accommodates her parents or friends when they visit. She selected a fresh green color for that room.

On the way to net zero functionality, Schechter specified a solar array for the roof and "my usual passive house details." Among those details are triple-glazed windows -- carefully positioned to provide panoramic views of the surrounding land and creek beyond -- and an ultra-tight building envelope. Window placement maximizes natural light and natural ventilation, the latter welcoming cool breezes from the southwest. And for the flooring in this net zero farmhouse: sustainable cork.

In the kitchen, the architect used three materials for the custom cabinetry she designed -- natural maple, aluminum framing, and red lacquer -- to underscore "the playfulness of the house," she said. Aqua, her client's favorite color, echoes that sentiment as it appears throughout the interior: as an accent wall in the open living/dining/kitchen core, on all four walls in the main bedroom, as tilework in the main bath, and on the exterior walls that surround the inner courtyard (which is awaiting plantings and a gate within the next three years).

This modern farmhouse is also equipped with a surprising feature for a single-family home in North Carolina: a sprinkler system. Considering the remote location and the volunteer fire department that serves it, that decision could prove extremely wise.

Thoughtful, intelligent decisions defined collaborating with this brand-new homeowner, Schechter noted. "It was such a satisfying project to work on for so many reasons, one of which was that [my client] put her money toward good things, not wasteful ones."

Architect: Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, Chapel Hill, NC
Photographer: Tzu Chen Photography, Raleigh, NC