MNN - Mother Nature Network

Curbed peruses Craigslist for a few "Otherworldly Real Estate Opportunities Created by the Rapture." If the owners of the home featured in news item number two are rapture-ready, I'd be more than glad to take over in their absence. Just saying. 

 

Dwell teases this vacation-starved blogger with a look at Casa Cuatro, an off-the-hook, off-the-grid beach retreat in Tunquen, Chile designed by Foster Bernal Architects. That's it pictured above.

 

Natural Home and Garden lends a helping hand with a comprehensive guide on how to get the most out of an effective, customized green remodeling job without spending more than the gross national income of Liechtenstein. 

 

Jetson Green gives props to the aptly named Power Haus, the second highest scoring LEED home in the country (118 points) behind Chicago's Helenowski Residence (119.5 points). The super-green, solar-clad Sarasota, Fla. abode was built by Josh Wynne Construction and boasts an impressive HERS (Home Energy Rating System) score of -22. Congrats! 

 

 

The New York Times reviews its notes from the 2011 International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Writes Julie Lasky: "At the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, where the furniture fair is held every May, and in concurrent design events throughout the city, playfulness mingled with social responsibility, and sometimes overshadowed it. Among the more than 500 exhibitors from 39 countries, the green conversation hadn’t faded by any means, but it was less strident, better integrated into the ambient hum of the new. " 

 

The San Francisco Chronicle sizes up the five gorgeous green homes — The Kellogg Residence, the Courtyard House, the Tiburon Residence, the Graham Residence, and the Hillside Residence — on display this weekend as part of the American Institute of Architects' 2011 Marin Living: Home Tour.. 

 

The Wall Street Journal lets the sunshine in with a look at winter's captives — "the shut-in," the "fish cooker," "the make- do-er," et al. — and tips on how to free them through summery, sometimes eco-friendly decorating tips. Sara Ruffin Costello doles out the advice. 

 

USA TODAY is blinded by the light coming out of this week's Lightfair International Trade Show where numerous companies including Switch Lighting, Lighting Science Group, and Osram Sylvania unveiled plans to release 100-watt equivalent LED bulbs. Somewhere, Michele Bachmann is crying. 

 

Readymade rounds up a few must-have "spring treats" ripe for the taking including artsy seed packets from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, handmade garden tools, and power grinders.