News of Madison Valley

View Haus 5, the city’s first Passive House-Constructed townhomes, offers a higher quality of life and lower carbon footprint — not to mention much cheaper energy bills.

“It’s about building homes that I would live in with my own family, ” said Cascade Built owner Sloan Ritchie. Most recently, Ritchie did just that with Park Passive, the city’s first certified Passive House. He’s now unveiling his newest Passive House project in his old stomping ground — Madison Valley. View Haus 5, aptly named for its five-unit community, Passive House design and striking views of the Cascade Mountains offers homebuyers the unique chance to live in a healthier, more comfortable home within a community of like-minded buyers just a mile from downtown Seattle.

Homes built to Passive House standards consume 80-90% less heating energy than traditionally built homes. This is achieved with an air-tight, super-insulated building envelope and the capture of solar heat gains through high-performance south facing windows.

Designed by award-winning b9 Architects, View Haus 5 has five distinct homes that were designed to appeal to a diverse group of buyers with a few commonalities. “The buyers of these homes understand the role air toxins play in asthma and allergies, are happiest when they can focus on living and not how much their utility bills will cost during a particularly cold winter, love the accessibility of living in the urban core, and they are visionaries in a larger global movement to reduce energy consumption, ” continued Ritchie.

View Haus 5’s modern design is a mix of 3-story 2b/2ba and 3bd/2ba townhomes ranging between 1,100 and 1,700 square feet. Unlike most townhomes that are mirror units or have one unit type for the entire complex, View Haus 5 bucks the cookie cutter trend with individually designed units. The homes are clad with 100-year old reclaimed barn wood, outdoor spaces include a central common courtyard and private rooftop decks with gas BBQ piping. Interiors offer an open floor plan, large windows, double-height spaces, LED lighting, and modern finishes.

View Haus 5 accompanies Cascade Built’s other Madison Valley projects, including the LEED Platinum Alley House 1, LEED Platinum, modularly built Alley House 2, and newly constructed Valley 3. The homes are just blocks from Madison Valley’s popular restaurants and shops, and within walking distance to Seattle’s bustling Pike/Pine corridor, a future Light Rail station, and one mile from downtown Seattle.

“We know that buildings are the number one consumer of energy in the world, and we know how to change that, but that’s not even what is so amazing about Passive House construction,” continued Ritchie. “For me and my family, it’s an overall improvement in our health and happiness — living comfortably and being mindful of how comfortable it is to sit in front of windows in the middle of winter and not feel an ounce of cold, drafty air.”

View Haus 5 will be completed in mid-November and celebrated with an open house for the community to tour the homes and learn more about Passive House construction. Presale opportunities of the homes will begin on November 7th with selling prices starting in the low $500,000 range.

“A friend of mine said it years ago when we were enjoying life and what it had to offer to its fullest — ‘it’s good living.’ That’s the mantra of this project,” closed Ritchie.

View Haus 5 will be open for a sneak peek (it's not done yet) on Sunday for the International Passive House Days tour. 12–4 pm, 208 25th Ave E.