Infrastructure (some things you oughta know)

Upstairs Laundry Room. Just outside the upstairs suite. Placed here so you don't have to lug clothes up and down 22 stairs. Washer and dryer connections on back wall. Storage cupboards above. Laundry sink and counter to the left. A pocket door closes everything off, if desired.

Attic Entry #2. You can reach the attic space in two ways. This way with a ladder up through the Laundry Room ceiling ... and also in the kitchen via a short door above the office niche. We rarely used this entrance, finding it much more convenient to use the kitchen access.

If you have to fold socks.  ... this is a pretty good view to enjoy and sing to while doing it.

Air Conditioning, Satellite and Trash Bin Niche. All three run along the street side of the studio. Air conditioning is needed only in the studio, not in the main house, even during the hottest days of summer, because the thick straw bale walls and concrete slab floor work together to maintain a steady, comfortable temperature. If you open windows at night (when temperatures are usually in the 50's), the cool nighttime air sweeps in and cools everything off. Then, when you awaken, close the windows and enjoy natural, free air conditioning all day long. And, because, air flows through the straw bale walls even when the windows are closed, the air inside stays fresh, never musty.

Wine Closet to the Left. Close to the kitchen for quick access.

Wine closet cool. Here's a nice, easy way to keep this room at a constant 50's/60's degree temperature without refrigeration. Cool air is pumped automatically into the space during the coolest part of the night, then the access is automatically closed off when the outside temperature starts to rise.

Fire Place Exhaust. Located on the front of the house, to the right of the main door.

How to cool off the house. There are three thin "opera" windows located along the top that hand-crank to open and close. For the window on the left, it's the top left window. For the window on the right, it's the middle window.

For the kitchen window the opera window is in the center. At night, if you open all these windows, cool air is sucked inside, drops toward the floor, and lowers the inside temperature. In the morning, close these windows, and the temperature stays cool all day long, helped by the mass of the concrete floor. Even in the hottest days of summer, when temperatures move into the 90's and 100's, the external nighttime temperature almost always drops into the 50's ... so this is a nice -- and free -- air conditioning system.

There are two downstairs wall thermostats. This one controls the temperature in the Fun Room and the Sunrise Suite rooms. A thermostat on the left wall just before you enter the kitchen controls the entry hallway and the kitchen.