Work |
Heron Hall
Bainbridge Island, WA
How can a home become a personal sanctuary, a regenerative experiment, and a catalyst for community-wide change?
Heron Hall is Washington’s first Living Building residence and a celebrated Architectural Record “Worldwide House of the Month.” Designed as the McLennan family home, it demonstrates how regenerative design can feel both timeless and deeply personal. Rammed-earth walls, charred wood siding, and carefully reclaimed materials ground the house in the character of Bainbridge Island, while off-grid solar and rainwater systems allow it to operate with remarkable independence. It’s a home that proves beauty, resilience, and environmental responsibility can live under one roof.
McLennan Family
Architecture
Full Living Building Challenge
Bainbridge Island, WA
3,200 sf
2016
Puget Lowland (Level III)
Single-Family Residence
Architectural Record - Home of the Month | Seattle Times - Home of the Year
Photo Credit: Daniel Banko
Photo Credit: Emily Hagopian
Heron Hall was designed not just to meet the Living Building Challenge, but to elevate daily life—framing views of forest and sky, shaping light with natural materials, and creating spaces that feel warm, grounded, and deeply connected to place. Every room is crafted to inspire reflection, creativity, and connection, turning the home into an immersive experience of regenerative living.
Photo Credit: Daniel Banko
Salvage Modernism at Heron Hall
Heron Hall brings Jason F. McLennan’s philosophy of Salvage Modernism to life—elevating reclaimed materials into objects of beauty, memory, and craft. Historic stained-glass windows, hand-carved Afghan doors, century-old timber, and repurposed artifacts are woven into a clean, modern architectural framework, creating a home that feels both timeless and deeply personal. By integrating these materials with intention and restraint, the house reduces environmental impact while gaining character, soul, and a richness that new products alone could never provide.
Photo Credit: Iklil Gregg
Photo Credit: Daniel Banko
A Home with Soul
Heron Hall is designed as an experience—one that delights, surprises, and shifts with light, season, and movement. Pathways unfold slowly, interiors reveal themselves in moments, and every space—from intimate nooks to generous gathering rooms—is crafted to spark imagination and invite emotional connection. More than a residence, it’s a home that feels alive, encouraging wonder, play, and the enduring presence of the child within.
Photo Credit: Daniel Banko
FSC-Certified Cabinetry by Neil Kelly
Heron Hall features the first-ever line of 100% FSC-certified wood cabinets developed in collaboration with Neil Kelly, the nation’s leader in green cabinetry. Built without Red List chemicals and offered with reclaimed wood and stone options, these custom cabinets set a new benchmark for healthy, environmentally responsible craftsmanship in residential design.
Site-Milled, Locally Crafted Wood Interiors
Trees harvested directly from the property were milled on-site and used extensively for interior siding, then finished with a white-washed, non-toxic ECOS Paint—one of the first Declare-labeled paint products—creating a healthy, deeply place-based material expression.
Photo Credit: Emily Hagopian
Regeneration as a Design Ethic
At Heron Hall, design becomes an act of ecological generosity—restoring hydrology, rebuilding soil, and renewing a landscape long shaped by logging and disturbance. Guided by the Living Building Challenge’s core question—“What if every act of design made the world better?”—the project extends a legacy of habitat restoration, native planting, and public access to nature. The result is a home and site shaped not just for human comfort, but for the thriving of all species who share this small but vibrant piece of land.
Photo Credit: Emily Hagopian
Crafted Layers of Earth, Light, and Story
Heron Hall’s sculptural rammed-earth walls anchor the home with a sense of permanence, while a carefully framed window box overlooks the entry court, creating a serene moment of pause and connection to the landscape. Throughout the house, 100-year-old stained-glass windows salvaged from a historic Portland church cast dappled light across modern spaces—blending earth, craft, and history into moments of beauty and quiet contemplation.
Photo Credit: Emily Hagopian
Energy & Water Strategies
Heron Hall turns infrastructure into architecture—harvesting sun, rain, and the rhythms of the earth so that energy, water, and comfort flow effortlessly through a home designed to live entirely on its own.
- 10 kW photovoltaic array on south-facing roof slope to meet annual energy demand.
- Off-grid water systems: 15,000-gallon rainwater cistern and composting toilets; house not connected to municipal water/sewer.
- Passive and efficient systems: Radiant heating for water/space, airtight envelope, natural cooling, no air conditioning.
Recognition
House of the Month – Architectural Record
Heron Hall, Washington’s first Living Building residence, was named Architectural Record’s House of the Month. A regenerative home off-grid and crafted from reclaimed and FSC-certified materials, it sets a new standard for sustainable living.
Photo Credit: Emily Hagopian
Design for where people live life.
At McLennan Design, we create homes and places that are alive—designed for people and for the places they inhabit. From chocolate factories to family residences, we bring the same regenerative, imaginative approach to every project.
