YOUR DREAM HOME Fall 2022

living

Think outside

The Grid

Utility-free living beckons more than just hardy pioneer types

Off-the-grid living was once an oddity reserved for dedicated survivalists. But there are many ways to live off-grid, and more people are looking into it.

Off-grid living means you’re not connected to utility grids. That could mean living in a cabin or a fancy house. It’s become more possible because of improvements in alternative energy sources like solar power and batteries to store it. The trend has also been fed by severe weather events that have stressed utility grids in many areas and created more power outages. Advocates of offgrid living warn that it can sometimes mean a lot of hard work and isolation.

Living off-grid conjures images of survivalists in remote places and a rustic, “Little House on the Prairie” lifestyle with chores from morning to night. Yet only a tiny fraction of people living off-grid do it like that, and fewer still live more than an hour from any town.

“Living off-grid doesn’t mean you don’t buy your groceries at a store or take your waste to the local dump. It just means you are not connected to utility grids,” says Gary Collins, who has lived off-grid, or mostly off-grid, for a decade. He has published books on the subject and leads online classes.

Although precise numbers of offgrid households are hard to come by, Collins estimates that only 1% of those living off-grid are in truly

remote areas.

Overall, the off-grid movement remains small. But it got a boost after the COVID pandemic hit: City dwellers began to explore different ways of living, facilitated by improvements in alternative energy sources like solar power, and batteries for storing that power.

More frequent power outages and utility grids’ struggles to handle the severe weather events brought on by climate change have added to

interest in disconnecting from the grid. So have utility bill hikes.

“There’s a lot more interest in living off the grid now because energy is costing so much, and there are so many problems with grids,” says author Sheri Koones, whose books about sustainable houses include “Prefabulous and Almost Off the Grid” (Abrams, 2012).

There are also those who remain connected to the grid but try to power their homes independent

of it. Koones cites the rise in “net metering,” when your property’s renewable energy source — usually solar — is producing more energy than you use, and your local utility pays you for the excess.

Today, off-grid living encompasses everything from “dry camping” in RVs (with no electrical or water hookups) to swank Santa Barbara estates, from modest dwellings tucked just outside of towns to — yes — those remote,

ERIN FEINBLATT

This image released by Anacapa Architecture shows an off-grid guest house in Hollister Ranch, Calif., one of the last remaining undeveloped coastal areas in California, located on a wildlife preserve. The Anacapa Architecture firm, in Santa Barbara, California, and Portland, Oregon, has built several upscale off-grid homes in recent years, and has several more off-grid projects in the works.

rustic cabins.

“Everyone does it differently, and everyone does it their own way, because it’s their own adventure,” says Collins.

For him, off-grid living is part of finding a simpler, less cluttered life that’s more in sync with nature.

The Anacapa Architecture firm, in Santa Barbara, California, and Portland, Oregon, has built several upscale off-grid homes in recent years and has several more off-grid projects in the works.

“There’s definitely an increase in traction for this kind of lifestyle, especially in the last two years. There’s a desire to get more in tune with nature,” says Jon Bang, marketing and PR coordinator for Anacapa Architecture.

One reason for the high cost of homes like this is that it’s expensive to haul equipment to a remote site. In addition, they might be outfitted with things like solar power, an

onsite battery bank, a septic system that treats sewage onsite, a water well, and a dry well to treat and reuse water, not to mention a plumbing system designed to use as little water as possible.

Such homes also are carefully designed to take advantage of the site’s landscape features with an eye to sustainability. For example, one of the firm’s homes is built into a hillside and has a green roof (with plantings). Strategic landscaping can minimize the need for watering.

“For those with means, it opens up building sites that cannot be connected to local grids and allows for a quieter kind of life, grounded in nature without neighbors nearby,” Bang says.

For those without the means to hire architects, there are numerous recent books, blogs and online videos dedicated to the subject.

“A lot of people are interested in it now. They contact me after watching

something on TV or on YouTube and I tell them, ‘If you learned everything you know on YouTube, you are never going to survive,’” says Collins.

Growing up poor in a rural area, he says, helped him succeed at offgrid living, first in Washington state and now in Arizona. He makes regular grocery runs but also grows some of his own food and hunts wild game. He has his own septic system and well. While his previous home was entirely off-grid, with solar panels and a wind turbine for power, his current home is hooked up to an electrical grid, mainly because the bills are too low to warrant the cost of solar panels, he says.

If you want to be totally selfsufficient, he says, it takes a lot of time and physical effort. You won’t have time to hold down a job. If you’re living in a remote location, you need to consider access to medical care, and whether you are mentally prepared for that much

isolation.

He warns, “People die off-grid all the time, because of things like chainsaw accidents. You have to be very careful and think everything through. No EMS will get to you in time.”

Anyone interested in living offgrid should try dry camping in an RV or living in a remote area first to see if the lifestyle fits, he suggests.

And depending on how it’s done, he says, off-grid living is not necessarily environmentally sustainable — not if you’re driving a fuel-guzzling truck and relying on a gas-powered generator, for example.

Still, improved alternative energy sources and construction techniques are making off-grid living more thinkable for more people, including those who don’t want to haul buckets of water from a well or live by candlelight.

— The Associated Press

ADAM CORNICK

The Solterre Concept House in Nova Scotia, an off-the-grid home featured in the book “Downsize, Living Large In a Small House,” by Sheri Koones.

Keep it Contemporary

7 characteristics of modern homes

Homes contain a variety of components that appeal to homeowners with different ideas about the perfect place to call home. That starts with the style of a home.

Buildings are classified according to share components. A Craftsman style home will have a covered porch with a set of wide base columns, while a Cape Cod home is often defined by a gabled roof and dormer windows. Modern houses, sometimes called contemporary homes even though the terms are not interchangeable, will have their own sets of unique characteristics. Here’s a look at seven features that make modern homes unique.

1. Minimalist approach

Contemporary and modern homes both employ an approach that leans toward minimalism, including clean design lines. Spaces are open and airy without the clutter of too many ornate architectural details. While modern homes may have some curvature to their design, contemporary ones are all about an angular look.

2. Neutral color palette

Modern homes tend to utilize a neutral color palette. Modern homes may use “earthy” elements, such as wood and brick, in ways that do not look rustic. Contemporary homes rely on a color palette of black and white with shades of gray or other neutral colors.

3. Geometric shapes

Modern homes have strong horizontal and vertical elements that showcase geometric shapes in their designs. Contemporary

Modern kitchens tend to feature efficient, top-tier appliances with additional storage and space amenities that keep the room from feeling cluttered.

homes often have flat roofs, while modern homes may not.

4. Large, unadorned windows

Most modern homes showcase a lot of natural light by utilizing large windows that are not covered up by heavy window treatments or elements like shutters and thick trims. Large windows are the focus of the interior and shift attention to the view outdoors.

5. Open floor concept

A hallmark of modern interior design, the open concept floor plan removes many of the walls

that tend to separate common areas of a home. This helps to foster the spread of natural light and maintains the emphasis on simplicity of design.

4. Smart elements

Thanks to the proliferation of smart technology, smart homes are cropping up with greater frequency. While smart devices can be included in any home style, they tend to feel like they were designed specifically for modern homes. In a similar vein, modern homes may include environmentally friendly elements, such as solar panels,

upcycled materials, added insulation, and energy efficient lighting.

7. Updated kitchen spaces

The clean lines and attention to technology and open space generally extends to modern kitchens. Modern kitchens tend to feature efficient, top-tier appliances with additional storage and space amenities that keep the room from feeling cluttered.

While some may consider modern homes austere, many others are right at home among their clean lines and airy spaces.

connectivity

The Need for Speed

Optimize your home’s internet connection

The detective-work part of buying a home has traditionally not extended to verifying the availability of basic utilities — but then broadband internet became one of those basics.

And while high-speed connectivity now rates as a must-have, it has yet to reach will-get status.

In many rural markets, buyers and their agents must puzzle their way through incomplete or incorrect data to see what access awaits at a new house. Sometimes, new homeowners only learn after a closing that their property is bereft of broadband — leaving them to choose between paying tens of thousands of dollars to get wired connectivity extended or limping along with expensive, datacapped satellite internet.

How home buyers can investigate broadband service

n Check a potential new home’s address on the FCC broadband map, but don’t take that as the final word.

n For each provider the FCC map lists, check the address on the provider’s site.

n When you go to an open house, ask if you can use the WiFi, then run a speed test (Ookla’s Speedtest app is free for Android and iOS) on your phone.

“The MLS [Multiple Listing Service] does say internet yes/ no,” said Jim Duncan, an associate broker and partner at Nest Realty in Charlottesville, Virginia. “The MLS is also, you know, human input.”

n Check with the relevant local government, civic association or homeowners association to see what other services connect the neighborhood.

n See if home wireless broadband from T-Mobile or Verizon covers the address.

n If nothing else is available, check Starlink’s site to see how soon service might be available at the address.

And, he added, multiple-listing services don’t break out what sort of connectivity might exist at a residence, leaving buyers and brokers to determine if it’s speedy fiber-optic access, somewhat less-swift cable, or an antiquated and slow digital subscriber line (DSL).

Asking the seller seems an obvious remedy but may not work when they aren’t clear on these distinctions, Duncan said: “A lot of these sellers may not know what they have.”

A survey released in late December by Leichtman Research Group, a Durham, New Hampshire, telecom consultancy, found that 45% of broadband subscribers didn’t know their service’s download speeds.

Buyers, meanwhile, can set themselves up for disappointment if they expect their next home to feature about the same broadband access as their last one did, especially if the new residence is not new construction.

“You just assume, maybe wrongly, that you’ll get service,” said Natalie Roy, owner of the Arlington, Virginiabased Bicycling Realty Group of KW Metro Center.

ELIJAH NOUVELAGE PHOTOS

A water tower in Cusseta, Ga., has antennas for broadband internet access. Although Chattahoochee County received millions in grant money to expand rural broadband access, only residents with a line of sight to one of the two water towers can access the internet.

She cited one client in Virginia who moved a few years ago from Falls Church to a farm in Middlebrook, outside of Staunton. Broadband didn’t come up during the evaluation of the property.

“The first year or so she was there, she had to go to the library to get service,” Roy said.

The client upgraded, somewhat, to using a Verizon mobile hotspot and then satellite broadband from HughesNet. This common fallback of rural homeowners relies on satellites in geosynchronous orbits some 22,000 miles up that keep them fixed over one point on Earth. That distant perch lets satellite access work almost anywhere in the United States with a view of the southern sky but imposes the trade-offs of notable lag time and strict data limits — at HughesNet,

a 50-gigabyte threshold on a $150-a-month plan, after which the service slows to 2001-vintage speeds.

Fortunately for Roy’s Shenandoah Valley client, the connectivity cavalry is finally on the way — she said the local electric coop is building out fiber-optic service.

Other homeowners are not so lucky.

Christina Deese, an office manager who works remotely, said she was told a few years ago during negotiations for a new house outside the rural town of Adel, Georgia, that her cable provider also offered service at this prospective abode. After moving in, she said the provider informed her otherwise and quoted a rate of $37,000 to extend service across the

Christina Deese pays for satellite internet for her work phone and computer. She also has two cellular hotspots, one for her daughter’s home schooling and one for the rest of the family.

Rooms With a View

3 features to focus on when designing an entertainment room home entertainment

It might not take a home theater to enjoy the big game with friends or fire up family movie night, but a spacious entertainment room can certainly enhance such experiences. That’s especially true when homeowners give considerable thought to designing entertainment rooms. Film buffs and sports fans may have different notions of the ideal entertainment room, but the following are three design features that merit consideration by all looking to upgrade their entertainment spaces.

1. Screen

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of options when choosing a screen for an entertainment room. Televisions have long been a go-to choice, but projector screens merit consideration as well. If the room will be devoted exclusively to entertainment, then a television or a fixed projector screen might be homeowners’ best bets. Fixed projector screens are installed on the wall and projectors are typically hung from the ceiling. Semi-fixed projector screens provide a similar viewing experience but can be pulled down or retracted when residents are not watching a movie. Semi-fixed can even be installed in front of a television so residents can stream a movie on the projector and then watch television through a cable box when it isn’t movie night. Projectors often provide much bigger screens for a fraction of the cost of equally sized televisions. However, sports fans may prefer televisions, as live streaming sports has not yet caught up to streaming movies and TV shows in terms of reliability or even availability. As a result, many sporting events

How will you entertain your guests? Start with an entertainment space you love.

remain available via cable television only, while even those that can be streamed tend to have a few hiccups during the game.

2. Sound

Though televisions and projectors tend to come with built-in audio, the quality of that sound often leaves much to be desired. So homeowners will want to choose a sound system that provides theater-quality sound. If the room is being renovated from scratch, such as a full basement remodel, installing speakers in the ceiling can create a genuine theater experience. Ceiling speakers also can be installed in existing rooms, though that will likely cost more and extend

the time it takes to complete the project. Surround sound is a must in any entertainment room. Homeowners worried about wires need not fret, as modern wireless surround sound systems are available at many different price points. Some systems are better suited to small rooms than others, so homeowners should measure the room and choose a system that best suits its dimensions.

3. Seating

Whether you’re using the space to watch the big game or fire up the latest blockbuster (or both), chances are you’re going to be spending considerable time sitting in your new entertainment room. A modular sofa might be ideal, as

it can be reconfigured depending on what you’re watching and how many people are watching along with you. Comfort is indeed important, but you’ll also want seating that provides ample support so you aren’t battling any aches and pains once you leave the room. That support also can keep residents and guests from dozing off.

Everyone has their own ideas on what makes the ideal entertainment space. But sports fans, movie buffs and others can all agree that an entertainment room worthy of the big game or the latest blockbuster has a sizable screen, pristine sound and comfortable seats.

Thrifty Green Thumb

Revitalize your landscape on a budget

Many homeowners think they have to spend tons of green to get green in their landscape, but that isn’t necessarily so. Homeowners can improve their landscapes without digging themselves into financial holes. These strategies can help anyone save some cash and still end up with attractive gardens and more.

n Use stones or gravel for a walkway. If commercially installed pavers or cement walkways are not within your budget, there are some affordable alternatives. Flagstone or individually purchased and spaced pavers and pea gravel can be used to create pathways. Some construction sites even offer free stones when asked. Soften the look with moss or other plants on the perimeter.

n Remove some lawn. Lawns

can require hours of upkeep that may involve the application of expensive fertilizers and weedkilling products that are not always so eco-friendly. Reduce the size of a lawn by putting in a mixed planting bed of perennials or ornamental grasses, or use landscape fabric and mulch.

n Look for free mulch. Municipal recycling centers may offer residents access to free mulch made from grinding up leaves, branches and other plant debris collected throughout the town.

Simply bring a few containers to the recycling center and spread the mulch for an ornamental look or to insulate landscapes over winter and protect against weeds.

n Repurpose old items into planters. Old wheelbarrows, barrels, watering cans, and other items can be repurposed into

container gardening vessels. Figure out if items marked for the garbage bin can be incorporated into garden features instead.

n Invest in plants that are easy to propagate. Perennials are the gardener’s friend when it comes to saving money. These plants sprout anew each year, and many, such as sedum, catmint, ferns, hostas and black-eyed Susans, can propagate by division. Find the best times of year to divide the plants and start growing them in individual containers before planting the sturdy new shoots in the ground. A single variety of plants grouped together in mass plantings is affordable and easy.

n Shop end-of-season sales. Garden centers may begin to make room for holiday items come the fall. Take advantage of reduced costs on remaining plants and

landscape accessories during this time of year. Plants can be covered or allowed to thrive indoors until they can be planted in the spring.

n Pool your resources.

Homeowners planning on a big landscaping or revitalization project may want to speak with neighbors to see if they’re interested in doing the same.

Contractors guaranteed business from a few homes in the same neighborhood may be willing to negotiate lower prices for the volume of work on things like driveway repaving, deck- or fencebuilding, or installation of paver patios.

Some handy ideas can help homeowners transform landscapes without spending too much.

Metro

Free mulch and scavenged stones for walkways can dress up areas of the landscape for little money.

remaining 2,700 feet.

Deese and her husband opted for satellite and grew to resent it. In June 2020, she cited a $220 monthly bill and complained that “we can’t stream movies or anything on it because otherwise it just eats up my GB for work later on in the month.”

The Deeses then sold the house, taking advantage of pandemicinflated housing prices to sell to a Florida couple who was advised of the broadband issue but did not work from home.

Moving, alas, did not help. Deese wrote in an email in November, “We are still in the same if not worse position.”

In this case, a county venture into providing fixed-wireless broadband only reached houses within sight of the transmitter. So the family is once again on satellite broadband, supplemented by one Verizon hotspot for each kid; Deese said the 50-gigabyte monthly quota on each Verizon device suffices until the younger ones want to play Roblox.

Two better wireless options — residential broadband from Verizon and T-Mobile, each without data caps — don’t reach the Deese residence. Verizon’s service, available via 4G and, in fewer places, 5G, runs $25 a month with a higher-end Verizon unlimiteddata phone plan, $50 without it; T-Mobile’s, also based on either 4G or 5G, costs $50.

So the Deeses are now on the waiting list for Starlink, the low-Earthorbit satellite broadband service from SpaceX that offers faster speeds than HughesNet for $99 a month and does not impose a data cap.

To avoid outcomes like this, the first step is to be skeptical of the broadband map published by the Federal Communications Commission, experts say. It offers a high degree of detail but relies on inexact filings by internet providers that can lead people astray.

“They’re riddled with errors,” then-FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said at the 2018 Atlantic Festival conference in Washington. Rosenworcel, now FCC chair, added at the time, “It’s wrong about my house!”

Checking for service on an internet provider’s site by plugging in the address should work — except sometimes even that does not, courtesy of glitches in the provider’s systems.

The infrastructure measure President Joe Biden signed into law in November may help future home shoppers with these problems. It will finance broadband buildouts across the United States and require internet providers to list the features of their services on a nutrition label-style form, like what the FCC proposed in 2016.

For now, though, buyers and their agents have to do the work, even if other parties make that difficult. As Duncan put it, “Trust and verify and make sure it’s in writing.”

— The Washington Post

MARGIE CANTOR INTERIORS

“Design is my passion and every project challenges me to create new ideas, use new materials and do what Ilove…. create the luxury in the details.”

-Margie

“Margie transforms the ordinary into the unique and fabulous with her visions and resources. Ihave worked with her on two homes and Ilove, love, love living with her beautiful designs.”

-Linda D.

From simply choosing apaint color to updating single rooms, full home remodels, new home builds and complete style makeovers

240-446-3520 •margiecantor.com

BROADBAND, continued from 9

ELIJAH NOUVELAGE

Lexie Deese, 14, uses a hotspot to do school work on a laptop at the kitchen table as her brother Waylon, 4, uses an iPad connected to a different hotspot at their home.

Residential &Business Interior Decorating Designing and making dreams come true for over 15 years.

SEPTEMBER

National Replacement Window Month at Renewal by Andersen*

Why did we declare September National Replacement Window Month? The weather is still nice in September, which makes it much easier to open your home during the installation. Get this job done before winter and get this September-only offer.

Why Renewal by

• Renewal by Andersen is the full-service replacement window division of Andersen, a 119-year-old family-owned company with a reputation for excellence in window and door craftsmanship.

Our exclusive composite Fibrex® windows are not only beautiful, they’re remarkably strong, offer superior energy efficiency and require minimal maintenance.2

Our factory-trained Certified Master Installers have years of experience installing only windows and doors, and they’ll treat you and your home with the utmost respect.

and 9/30/2022. Additional $250 off your project, minimum purchase of four (4) required, taken after initial discount(s), when you purchase by 9/30/2022. Military discount applies to all active duty, veterans and retired military personnel. Military discount equals $300 off your entire purchase and applies after all other discounts, no minimum purchase required. Subject to credit approval. Interest is billed during the promotional period, but all interest is waived if the purchase amount is paid before the expiration of the promotional period. Financing for GreenSky® consumer loan programs is provided by federally insured, federal and state chartered financial institutions without regard to age, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, or familial status. Savings comparison based on purchase of a single unit at list price. Available at participating locations and offer applies throughout the service area. See your local Renewal by Andersen location for details. MHIC #121441. VA License #2705155684. DC License #420215000125. Some Renewal by Andersen locations are independently owned and operated. “ENERGY STAR” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Renewal by Andersen” and all other marks where denoted are trademarks of Andersen Corporation. ©2022 Andersen Corporation. All rights reserved. ©2022 Lead Surge LLC. All rights reserved. 2See limited warranty for details. *National Replacement Window Month is not a Congressionally-approved designation.