330 Homes Spring 2023

dream house

C ommercial architect Melinda Scalfaro always dreamed of designing a home of her own as a model of eco-friendliness. “My passion is sustainability,” explains the partner at SoL Harris/Day Architecture in North Canton. That dream became a reality when Melinda Hartville in 2017 so their daughters could attend Lake Local Schools. Melinda initially drew up plans for a three bedroom, 2 1/2-bath contemporary residence with a butterfly roof and decks on the first and second floors and completed the house in February 2020. Sustainable features include a five-zone underground geothermal system that uses Earth’s constant temperature to reduce the amount of electricity needed for heating and cooling. and her husband, Joe, purchased a wooded property in Lake Township near

Other eco-conscious features contribute to visual appeal — ribbon windows near the ceiling provide warm-weather ventilation by allowing rising heat to escape and large windows framing verdant views flood rooms with natural light, eliminating the need to flip a switch during the day. “The roof overhangs were designed to shade the windows in the summer but allow the sun in in the winter,” she says.

Akron-based Shultz Design & Construction built the home, and president Darren Shultz says the company stayed within budget without sacrificing sustainability. He used an insulated concrete bricks similar to Legos are stacked, braced off to plumb, reinforced with rebar and filled with concrete. And when Melinda found out she was pregnant with a third child during construction, she added form foundation in which hollow foam

a fourth bedroom without increasing the square footage of the inviting home. “We really focused on the family area, making this open plan where we could gather as a family, where I could cook and still interact with the kids as they’re playing in the living room,” she says. There were splurges. Melinda brought the cultured stone used to accent the angular gray-sided-and-paneled

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