Like ATX, The DC Metro area has environmentally conscious eco-depot for all of your green home goods.
Artfully and meaningfully designed to help you love where you live. Both your house plus the earth; thus, House+Earth- the scion of years of planning by the House family of Austin, Texas. Owner and founder, Zach House, a native Austinite and LEED AP put a lot of heart and conscientiousness into a little shop that is going to make a huge impact both regionally and hopefully- nationally. I get a kick out of seeing their facebook page with folks around the country and world taking photos in their awesome House+Earth shirts infront of different monuments and places of interest. Now that is viral Marketing at it’s finest, my friends! But really, I do feel that what they have created is something that will spark national level interest.
Their idea is to help your average household buy products that are healthy, sustainable and top of the line. By building partnerships with local vendors who manufacture products that are more like art pieces for the home than interior selections, House+Earth has created a home goods store much more like a designer showroom and green depot for all of your home improvement needs.
Take for instance, the brilliance of the Marmoleum that House+Earth has lined up ever so perfectly along their south wall. Marmoleum, a linoleum or linseed based product which is not only a highly renewable resource, but also anti-microbial! Zach mentions on our tour that many hospitals are now using the Marmoleum in place of vinyl and ceramics because of its anti-microbial tendencies. This product is available in pigments ranging from its natural beige to a high definition persimmon purple! Across the showroom you can see the variations of cork flooring- from gorgeous tigerwood-like designs to a pressed leather look. Only the bark of cork is used and is therefore a highly rapidly renewable product, which also has anti-microbial qualities. The pressed composite of coconut bark and resin is a shimmering and sturdy flooring selection also available for ordering whose sheen and definition is rich, deep and incredible sustainable. I love, love, love the paint bar concept that Zach implemented. It is beautiful, fun and Mythic paint (a scion/offshoot of the American Pride brand that Amicus sells) is a no-omitting paint medium of many rich, deep and bright colors. I recently got to work with the Mythic Paint rep for the DC Metro area, and he was an absolute delight and very knowledgeable gentleman; he was even aware of our friends down in ATX working at House+Earth!
Having trained in sustainable design and resources and lived in a cutting edge town, House’s House+Earth is the ultimate in education and retail. Offering seminars and how-to classes, House+Earth puts the element of education back into their tight knit community. Located at the epicenter of Austin near the flagship Wholefoods and the famous Waterloo Records at 6th and Lamar, House+Earth offers Austinites products that they would have formerly had to scour the far ends of city and country all in one neat, highly organized location. With a selection of zero-VOC Mythic Paint, insulation made of recycled denim and even rain water collection systems, House+Earth has the making for a very sustainable future. Their sweet vignettes of American Clay plaster (which all employees took a 3 day class on application for) and FSC wood cabinetry with designer quality, stylish glass tiles show that rapidly renewable products can be stunning and thoughtful. The appropriately sized staged areas meander through the warehouse like space echoing the call of the store’s manifesto: “For the home you live in. And the home you live on.”
Jealous? Want to go take detour to ATX to find some goodies like those at House+Earth? Well, you don’t have to go so far! Where can you find a shop like this near us, you ask? Have you been to Amicus Green Building Center in Kensington, Maryland? Just a hop, skip and a jump away from the DC Metro area, “the Amicus Green Building Center is a one-stop source of genuine “green” products, resources, and expert support to help you create a healthy, environmentally friendly, stylish, energy smart and sustainable building.” When you are looking to complete a home improvement project in the DC Metro area, from Springfield, VA to Arlington County, Amicus is currently the closest you will get to a shop like House+Earth. I have been lucky enough to work closely with their lead architect, Sam Young, at Amicus, and if all of the folks at Amicus, have the heart and drive that Sam has for his projects, I feel like there is real hope for the green community! Jason Holstine, the founder of Amicus makes sure that he hires the best and brightest at Amicus- each of his staff are highly knowledgable and ready to educate their clients about the products and services that they offer to the DC Metro area community. I actually believe that House+Earth may have mirrored a bit of Amicus in what they did down south- but more power to them. This “green thing” is more than a phase, and stores such as Amicus and the like are paving the way for all people to start building, and improving their homes in sustainable, healthy ways.
