Raleigh architect Frank Harmon recently completed a single-family house on South Carolina’s St. Helena Island.
This new house is made 50% of screened porches. It is 600-square-foot Modern house, owned by Sabrina Terry and John Lamb.
The house sits on 14-foot pilings and is sited to maximize solar orientation, and to capture prevailing breezes for natural ventilation. A siding glass door protects most of the screened-in, open-air living area from cold north winds.
The cypress framing and rain-screen exterior as well as the heart pine floors, were felled and milled within 50 miles of the site. The single-sloped aluminum roof reflects heat in the summer and provides a corrosion-resistant, energy-efficient roofing system in this coastal climate, according to a news release.
“Screened porches can be built for a fraction of the cost of heated space, and since the climate in Beaufort rarely freezes, the homeowners can live outdoors for nine months out of each year,” Harmon said.