The Margarido House, a LEED-H Platinum certified house located in Oakland, is being offered for sale.  It looks like the estimated selling price is in the $6 million range.

Excerpts from ‘On the Block‘ (San Francisco Chronicle):

If you live in the Bay Area and are even remotely interested in homes and real estate you will have heard of the Margarido House. Completed last year, this contemporary, 4,600 sq ft home in Oakland’s Upper Rockridge was the first custom home in northern California to be awarded a LEED-H Platinum certificate for its wealth of eco-responsible elements.

It is also a home that has been deluged with media coverage — including in this paper which devoted two full features to the house shortly after it was built — for it is undoubtedly a thing of beauty with many design attributes.

And now this “celebrity” home could be yours. For it is coming on the market soon, reputedly for around $6 million. The price tag, if confirmed, will make it by far the most expensive listed home in Oakland. Only nearby Piedmont can usually command such stratospheric prices. And McDonald has some stiff competition in the limelight department. The second most expensive home in Oakland is just up the street in his own ‘hood and is owned by none other than Green Day’s lead vocalist Bilie Joe Armstrong. Built in a more traditional style than the Margarido House, it listed last month for $4.85m.

Touring the Margarido House

Scott Andersen, Bill Brown and Bryan toured the Margarido House on January 10, 2009 and Bryan attended two events there, the first on April 30, 2009 and the second on June 18, 2009.

Mike McDonald, builder and owner of the Margarido House, was an incredibly gracious and patient host for our tour in January.  He answered every question we asked, and ensured that we understood his answers.  He shared his deep insight with green building techniques and challenges, and offered advice so we could take advantage of his experience building the Margarido House and obtaining LEED-H Platinum certification.

Mike put Bryan on his mailing list and invited Bryan to several celebrations at the Margarido House.  Bryan, of course, attended each event (not one to pass up a party!).  These events were great for networking and served to broaden and deepen Bryan’s knowledge of green building.

We wish Mike and his family the absolute best as they will be moving on to another home.  We know they will miss the spectacular views of San Francisco from the Margarido House and they will forever cherish their memories of living in such a beautiful home.

Yes, we’re looking forward to seeing what Mike will build next for his family.

Stay tuned …

The first GreenPoint Showcase Tour, a partnership of Build It Green and KTVU Channel 2, was on today.  Bryan bought a ticket for $10 and spent several hours touring 6 of the 19 homes in the Bay Area.  We were inspired by what he saw today.

Pope Street, Menlo Park

This was the first home that Bryan visited on the tour today.  It was inspiring!  Of the six houses he toured, this was the closest to what we like.  Interestingly, the owners have blogged their construction – it would have been great to find their blog a year ago so we could have followed along.

We were comforted to know that this couple spent a significant amount of time designing their stairs and railing system in order to get it just right.  The stairs and railing system are a key feature in their home.

As soon as the front door was opened, the inside looked great!

The roof flashing and wood trim looks spectacular against the beautiful California sky.

Post and railing system on the second floor. Bryan inspected this and, yes, these are Ultra-tec Invisiware fittings with 3/8 inch cables!

The master bedroom had built-in dressers, which looked fabulous.

Stairs with unique, custom horizontal railing system. Note the reveal on the treads and risers.

The kitchen sink had a very clean look, with Kohler's new Karbon faucet system.

The door bell was very unique and stylish - cheers!

The landscaping included core-ten sheets, which helped to establish a clean, elegant look for the sharp lines of the house.

Landscaping at the front of the house. Very crisp.

Sterling Avenue, Menlo Park

This house was very well done.  The owner was speaking with someone who was asking for a Title 24 consultant.  It was too small a world to hear the owner recommending Darrell Kelly, who is our LEED certification advisor.  Very small world.

This exhaust hood is exactly what we're looking for.

Bryant Street, Palo Alto

The house on Bryant Street had some great features.

One wall in the powder room had washed stones inlaid in the mortar. It had a nice texture to it with soft earth tones.

The stairs had light risers and darker treads, just like in the ArchiCAD model that Bryan created for our stairs.

El Cerrito Road, Palo Alto

This house is in the final stages of completion.  It is a zero carbon home, with a large amount of photo-voltaic panels that will provide sufficient electricity for the house and enough to power two electric vehicles.

Note the large wooden structural beams, with reclaimed wood and white sheet rock. We will have very similar beams and ceiling components.

Beam with a black Simpson hanger. We will have several of these structural brackets showing.

Large master shower with seat.

Close up of tile detail and seat in master shower.

Oakhurst Avenue, Los Altos

Bryan spent some time at the last house he visited, on Oakhurst Avenue in Los Altos.  Of the 19 houses on the GreenPoint Showcase tour, only two houses utilized SIPs as a building material – this was one of the two homes.

The owners were extremely helpful answering questions and explaining how they developed the design with their architect.  In this house, none of the showers had curbs so they are ADA compliant.  A very nice look.

The people on the tour were extremely interested in the SIP construction.  The SIPs for this project came from Premier.

SIP with an insulated header (with LVL) for a window or door.