Community Corner
Is L.A.'s Most Efficient Home Located in Mount Washington?
The Los Angeles Time recently featured the home of Mount Washington couple Grit Leipert and Frank Pasker.
To those living outside the 90065 zip code, little is known about the secluded neighborhood of Mount Washington.
It is, of course, home to the historic and The Self Realization Fellowship, as well as the neighborhood of Mayor Antonio Villairagosa. However, architect/designer Frank Pasker and his partner, designer Grit Leipert, have recently put Mount Washington on the map for another reason.
The couple was recently featured by the Los Angeles Times for designing what is considered by many in the design community as the most water efficient home in the region.
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The following excerpt is from The Los Angeles Time piece, which can be read in its entirety here:
To see the radical conservation mandate, you have to look more closely. Beneath the desert landscaping lies a cistern that can store 1,500 gallons of rainwater. Behind the garage door are controls for a solar water heater, photovoltaic panels and gray-water system — the first to receive a permit from the city of Los Angeles after California updated its gray water regulations in August 2009.
Those who follow sustainable design say the new residence could very well be one of the most water-efficient houses in the region, a milestone for L.A. as the city seeks better models of conservation. The Nob Hill Haus, as its owner-designers call it, could serve as a template for the house of the future here.
Find out what's happening in Highland Park-Mount Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The article goes on detail the gravity powered irrigation system of Pasker and Leipert's so-called "Nob Hill Haus," through which a small grove of fruit trees beneath the second floor balcony are fed by recycled water from the home's appliances as well as an 1,500 gallon underground cistern.
Through the use of the irrigation system, the couple are able to save on what is considered by conservation experts the most water-wasteful of daily household chores-watering the lawn and garden.
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