Elizabeth’s Home was built in 2005, the first house completed as part of the 20K Project. The primary aim of the project design was to understand how to build a flexible house that could adapt to a wide variety of site conditions and accommodate the diverse lifestyles of potential clients while still being efficient and affordable. To address site flexibility, the house is raised on piers, which allows it to respond to changes in elevation across the site. The piers also raise the wood-framed house off of the poorly draining soil of the Black Belt region, protecting it from ground water and the humid subtropical climate conditions.
Furthermore, the front porch was designed as a separate volume from the rest of the house, which permits it the flexibility to “slide” along the front façade and adapt to different site conditions. To address a wide range of client needs, the house is a two-bedroom home. The house itself is a shotgun-style home with long, thin dimensions in which the front and back doors are aligned linearly for circulation. These rectangular dimensions allow for the roof to be supported by trusses, reducing structural costs, and also reflect efficient material usage, as it is sized to standard lumber dimensions.
