Deep overhangs shade areas around the U-shaped pool courtyard (above)and guest casita (below) and help keep the structures cool. Plantscaping is drought-tolerant.

The house is so well-insulated, so well-oriented on its site, and has such deep protected overhangs that during hot weather “we have to use air conditioning only in the worst time of the day,” Bonnie reports. Able to keep doors and windows open until about 1 p.m. during summer months, she and her husband enjoy the fresh air that circulates through the home. They also appreciate an abundance of natural light that spills through glass transoms, windows and French and bi-fold stack doors, all of which are shaded from the sun. There never is a need to turn lights on during the day, they note.
The goal for the residence, while ecologically motivated, was to create a cozy setting, one filled with warmth and an Old World sensibility, says Bonnie, who acted as interior designer. Building a green house did not mean that any creature comforts, luxuries or architectural elements had to be “sacrificed,” she and her husband stress.
Constructing their eco-friendly home added 10 percent to its cost, but for the Schuesslers, that was a small price to pay for helping to protect the environment. Reflecting on their decision to “go green,” the Schuesslers affirm, almost in unison, “If we had this to do over, there is nothing we would change.”

ECO-STATS
• Protected building entrances (recessed or covered, protected from direct summer sunlight exposure)
• Light colors on a minimum of 50 percent of interior walls
• Hard flooring on 75 percent of floor area
• Doors and windows in each room can be opened to provide cross ventilation
• Desert plants protected during construction
• No lawn or chemical herbicides used
• No more than 25 percent of total glass area located on east and west walls combined
• Natural light allowed to enter the house from two sides of a room in at least 50 percent of the total living area
• Home designed with protected outdoor living spaces on its south side