The Modern Mill House: A Southeastern Habitat for Humanity Prototype

The Mill House typology can be found sprinkled throughout the South East. Simple, reliable, and adaptable, it housed mill workers and their families over several generations. Yet, what would it look like if it were built today? How can the Mill House be reinterpreted for the modern family?

Historically the hearth was at the center of the Mill House, both physically and socially. Today the kitchen is where the family gathers at least three times a day to partake in meals, to socialize and to grow together. The kitchen is today's hearth and it takes its rightful place in the center of the home. It is stretched out into a galley style to connect to the other public social spaces, the dinning and living area. Two big double doors flood the kitchen with natural daylight and open up onto the sun deck. During particularly large family gatherings, when the kitchen gets too warm, the doors can be opened up to help ventilate the space, as well as provide an extra outdoor room.

The house is split down the middle by a 2x6 wet wall which efficiently contains all the plumbing and waterlines for the whole home. This alleviates several issues during construction, and ensures that Habitat for Humanity volunteers have optimal amount of time for building on the site. The systems for the house include three hydrologic innovations: a solar hot water heater, gray water collection and radiant floor heating. In particular, the solar hot water heater, utilizing the sun's radiant heat, warms the water flowing through its panels and sends it back to storage in the two water heater tanks. When needed, the radiant floor heating tank sends a steady stream of warm water through tubing embedded in the concrete floor slab, which efficiently warms the space without the use of forced air, duct work, or noise. Recycling back through the system, water can be reused, and the technology can even be adapted to use the house's supply of gray water as well. The gray water is harvested from the home and stored in two tanks hidden under the sun deck for use in the yard during the hot summer months.

The water wall itself also acts as an axis as to which the house's space can modularly rotate upon. This flexibility allows for the home's spaces to be rearranged in accordance to its location on a particular site and its relationship to the sun. This allows for the house to receive optimal amounts of daylighting and/or shading. The house can be mirrored both vertically and horizontally, and the sun deck is designed to act as an optional primary entrance depending on site and context.