Welcome to Seawright Homes' blog! For our first post I wanted to describe our take on home building and the environment. After reading our philosophy, which guides our approach to our work, I hope that you'll share your thoughts and ideas about sustainable home building as well.
Since 1972 Seawright Homes consistently has walked a green path. That path, now marked by "green" catchwords, is one that we have followed for more than 37 years out of a sense of "stewardship" for the land and our natural environment. As a "North Star" by which to align values and actions, the concept of stewardship has been the guiding principle for our achieving green and sustainable results in home building and community building well before a "green vocabulary" took on its present meaning and significance in a social lexicon.
Since 1972 Seawright Homes consistently has walked a green path. That path, now marked by "green" catchwords, is one that we have followed for more than 37 years out of a sense of "stewardship" for the land and our natural environment. As a "North Star" by which to align values and actions, the concept of stewardship has been the guiding principle for our achieving green and sustainable results in home building and community building well before a "green vocabulary" took on its present meaning and significance in a social lexicon.
With stewardship for the land and our environment being the guiding principle, it was only natural that two other related principles have assumed roles of equal importance in our work. One principle is captured in the phrase, "Less is More". These three words, contained within an 1855 poem by Robert Browning, became widely recognized when established as a precept for minimalist design by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The second principle, also a three word phrase, is "Design With Nature". This is the title of a book written in 1967 by landscape architect and environmental science forerunner, Ian McHarg. When I read this book in 1973, as part of research on how best to site a seashore condominium, its title has become an admonition and underlying concept that has informed the land planning and land use decisions for each of the new home communities subsequently created by Seawright Homes.
The second principle, also a three word phrase, is "Design With Nature". This is the title of a book written in 1967 by landscape architect and environmental science forerunner, Ian McHarg. When I read this book in 1973, as part of research on how best to site a seashore condominium, its title has become an admonition and underlying concept that has informed the land planning and land use decisions for each of the new home communities subsequently created by Seawright Homes.
Adhering to the concept of stewardship and the companion principles of "less is more" and "design with nature" often has made it seem that we "march to the tune of a different drummer", which indeed is the case. Being aware that we hear a different drummer, though, has no led us to change our path or direction. Rather, in my next posting you will see the variety of awards for exemplary architecture, community design and land use that our efforts have received, which add to the satisfaction and great pleasure we derive from what we do with and for our clients.
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