I went to Nova Scotia in March to look at land that my cousin Pam and her husband Dwight will build a house on. They presently live in New Hampshire.

They have owned land in Nova Scotia for a number of years that is land locked and only accessible by water. They recently acquired another lot on Whitehead Bay near the eastern end of Nova Scotia. That gives them water access to their other piece of land. Their land is wonderfully isolated, pristine, and beautiful.

Pam, who is an artist, has created a design that she calls the ‘Trillium’ house. When viewed from an aerial perspective it looks like a multi-colored bird landing in the forest. Pam loves deep rich colors as you see in the computer models of the different versions of the Trillium house that she has designed. Many houses in the surrounding countryside echo this vibrancy of richness and color.

My job will be to assist them in turning this conceptual/schematic design into a real building. The heart of the house is a sunspace with lots of thermal mass for heat storage. Pam has been spending the last 3 to 4 months documenting how she lives in minute detail so she understands what they should build in Nova Scotia.

When I made the trip to Nova Scotia in March with Dwight and a good friend of his, Gus Hedburg. I was completely engrossed by the abundance of empty space and pristine undeveloped landscape. I am looking forward to many repeat trips as this project moves forwards and is built.