It’s the story of two sportsmen who became attached to each other while cycling and who settled together near the coast of Maine. They built a small, energy-efficient house in northwest Camden that’s comfortable all year round: cold season, wet season, bug season. She has everything you need.
It’s also the story of three not-so-small pigs who attack their field. We will end up talking about them.
Didier Bonner-Ganter and Nathalie Nopakun met seven years ago while participating in the Cadillac Challenge, an annual cycling tour in Acadia National Park. Mme Nopakun lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and worked as a compliance manager for a Medicaid/Medicare plan, while Mr. Bonner-Ganter worked as a forester and arborist in the Midcoast region of Maine.
“It just happened like that,” says M.me Nopakun, looking like a female Cole Porter in full form. “We were totally attracted to each other. We exchanged a number of ideas about where to settle down, because we’re older. » (She is now 47 and he is 53.)
She adds: “It wasn’t like we were about to start a family or anything like that. »
But Mr. Bonner-Ganter had a well-established business in Maine. Nathalie Nopakun joined during the pandemic after an unfortunate period working remotely. “I exhausted myself, I begged and he finally accepted me,” she says.
PHOTO SARAH SZWAJKOS, THE NEW YORK TIMES
The couple purchased 26 acres of wooded land and cleared 2 of them to build a house and a barn.
Although the standard property available on the Maine coast was an old farmhouse, the couple didn’t want a large, drafty house that would require constant maintenance. Instead, the two purchased a 26-acre tract of wooded land near a small lake and a string of hills, clearing 2 acres to build a house and barn, with the idea of reclaiming the area in pasture.
To build their 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom home, they turned to GO Logic of Belfast, Maine. This company is a pioneer in passive house construction, where buildings are positioned and sealed to harness the sun’s heat (or lack thereof), making them less dependent on mechanical heating and cooling systems.
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PHOTO SARAH SZWAJKOS, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Large triple-glazed windows let in significant amounts of sunlight.
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PHOTO SARAH SZWAJKOS, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Their 1,200 square foot home has two bedrooms and an open living area.
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GO Logic achieves energy savings through prefabricated insulated panels that are screwed together to create airtight building envelopes. The panels incorporate high-performance doors and large triple-glazed windows from Germany that let in significant amounts of sunlight. Each of their homes is equipped with a ventilation system that recovers 90% of the heat and 50% of the humidity from the air exhausted to the outside.
As a result, the couple’s house, completed in June 2023, uses about 20% of the energy consumed for heating a traditional house – and that’s without the solar collectors, which they plan to add later.
“It makes a lot more sense to improve the envelope before using renewable energy,” says Alan Gibson, co-founder of GO Logic and board member of Phius, a nonprofit that certifies passive houses. across North America. “If you have a super insulated house, in the event of a power outage in winter – which happens frequently here – you will be comfortable. »
The contract price of the Bonner-Ganter and Nopakun couple’s house was a little over $800,000 CAN, including nearly $54,000 for the work. The upgrades, including a wood stove, cabinets, countertops and high-end bathroom tiles, plus some built-ins, cost about $47,000.
“We have priced the project in fall 2021,” says Gibson. “If we were to do it again today, I think the cost would be closer to $910,000. »
“We really wanted to think about the materials in the house and choose products that were as durable as possible. As arborists, we didn’t want anything that looked like laminate. We wanted real wood,” adds M.me Nopakun.
PHOTO SARAH SZWAJKOS, THE NEW YORK TIMES
The exterior coating is black pine tar and achieves the charred wood effect of Japanese shou sugi ban at a reduced price
The exterior cladding is pine, and the window frames, cabinets and floating shelves in the kitchen are maple. Black pine tar applied externally achieved the charred wood effect of Japanese shou sugi ban at a reduced price. It also offers natural and easy maintenance, as well as protection against ultraviolet and humidity.
“If we had painted, we would have had to repaint at some point,” says Bonner-Ganter. “Now we just have to make adjustments when necessary. »
Likewise, the standing seam metal roof was considered worth the luxury of installing it and then forgetting about it for many, many years.
OK: pigs.
Their names are Wilson, Wanda and Da Vinci, and they are from a New Zealand race called Kunekune. They weigh around 200 pounds each and are largely vegetarian, meaning they graze the field surrounding the house, but are considerate enough not to disturb the soil.
In addition to grass, the pet pigs eat fruits and vegetables that a local farm trades for wood waste from the couple’s business and uses to heat its greenhouses in winter.
“These animals are very easy to raise,” says Bonner-Ganter. “You don’t have to worry about walking them. You don’t need to let them out. It’s a low-carbon way of maintaining an open field and retaining views. »
This article was originally published in the New York Times.
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