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Clicks and Bricks

Annie Block, Mark McMenamin, and Meghan Edwards -- Interior Design, 10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Houston builder Mark Johnson is well aware of a sobering truth: Most people can't afford world-class architecture at home. So the principal of Area 16 teamed up with architect Andrew McFarland of D>McF to launch Hometta, a Web-based collaborative that makes distinctive design accessible to the masses. The pair recruited 24 international firms to supply plans for houses of no more than 2,500 square feet, to be built with sustainable materials and methods.

David Clovers's house stakes its claim as the first in the U.S. to use eco-friendly Corian for exterior cladding. Dufner Heighes specified a geothermal pump for a house that also features brick gables and a zinc roof. Radiant-heated floors and high-efficiency plumbing distinguish the Garofalo Architects house, composed primarily of prefabricated components. And the very vertical house from Roger Sherman Architecture + Urban Design offers a choice of solar panels or green walls and a gray-water collection system for irrigation. Plans sell for $1,195 to $3,195.

From top: Hometta's Web site offers renderings and plans for 27 houses including the Dufner Heighes—designed House 176, its ipé-floored living area featuring a brick fireplace surround with integrated audiovisual center. The green roof of Garofalo Architects's X House.