This Home Lets You Live on the Edge

The architects behind this home, whose design is called energetikhaus100 display a rendition of the home, giving a first impression of its surprising cube shape and dynamic angles that seem to tumble down the sloping hillside. Simply shaped but utterly impressive, the cube home places an emphasis on exposing as much surface area as possible to the side which receives the highest amount of sunlight in order to charge the solid solar voltaic facade.

Located near Chemnitz (a city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany),  this home stands with a sense of strength and independence quite fitting for the region, which boasts Dresden as its capital. By tipping the cube shape on its side, the architects achieved a mighty pinnacle that offers plenty of height on the exterior, as well as an impressive facade facing the chilly winter outside.

Here, you can see the beauty of being eco-friendly. How lovely is the reflection of the clouds and clear blue sky, which transform the colours of the house along with the weather. Talk about living in sync with nature.

You can see a few patches in the solar voltaic facade where windows have been added, as well as a glassy pane below that lets plenty of light stream into the dining room.

Here, you can get a sense of place, as the wooden side of the house looks almost like a modern take on Little House on the Prairie. While innovative, this home still retains a sense of countryside simplicity, neither competing with nor overwhelmed by the surrounding meadow and forest. No backyard garden here – it seems that the world beyond is the only backyard they need. 

Coming up the gradual slope behind the home, a wooden back door blends in subtly with its wooden siding, and a strong cement foundation gives the tipsy-topsy design a solid grounding. Note that the back of the home has been left windowless, as the front of the house focuses on receiving as much natural light as possible – in a home designed for energy efficiency, excess windows means heat loss in the winter, and these architects choose to minimize heat loss through the most advantageous placement of just a few windows along the side.

Antique furniture and a warm, soft, and almost dream-like tone create a rustic and comfortable interior. By no means cluttered with furniture, these designers have kept it simple, and for good reason – the house's floor plan measures just under 1200 square feet! 

Appealing for those who prefer the simple life, the dining room features a simple portrait country landscape, wooden cabinet and table, and a wood-burning stove to keep the room cozy.

A white sofa brighten this subdued space in the light of a small but well-placed side window (which, by opening with an inwards tilt, allows the homeowners to keep windows open throughout the hot summer, even through a torrential downpour. This helps keep their energy costs and use down). In this room, the mantra less is more comes to full fruition, as a simple, unadorned ceiling light hovers above a minimal amount of furniture.

A cube home does not have to be all angles! Here, a lightweight and curvy woven chair sits next to a window for a sunny read, with the slanting front wall of the home providing an angled and cozy nook full of contrasting straight and curvy shapes.

With just a few windows on the sunny side of the structure (the solar panels take advantage by covering the rest), each window has been given its own intentional space on the inside for full enjoyment of its light and its views. This window illuminates the sauna, an added little luxury for the house.

Carrying on the square theme of this cube home, these stairs spiral in a rectangular fashion, displaying sharp edges and a palette of tiny rectangular pieces of wood. The sharp angles of the stairs are softened by its warm tones and the glow of light that creates a twist of tawny hues from top to bottom.

Both beautiful and ecologically sound, this cube-shaped wonder of a country home is about as cozy as it gets! Country living can be oh-so-stylish! If you're feeling inspired by this country home, here's another ideabook on a country home with a few surprising twists.