Longbow Drive, Estate of the Day

There's no denying the green trend but it's fascinating to see how it plays out in the luxury real estate market. This new build is a ,800 square foot, five bedroom, mountain home in Bear Dance just outside of Larkspur,Colorado. The house was designed to have a utility bill costing no more than $350 a month. It may not sound like a big reduction but heating and electricity for a home this size in the winter can run into the thousands. The home's energy-efficient features include wrap-around wall insulation, solar thermal panels on the roof that pre-heat all the domestic water and four additional solar electric panels that produce enough electricity to run the homes six refrigerators.

The home was also built green, using recycled, reclaimed and organic materials whenever possible, including the Cultured Logs(TM), log-finish exterior, made from composite material and non-toxic blown-in insulation. The hardwood floors are reclaimed antique hickory, taken from a barn built in Virginia in the late 1800's. All the paints and stains are VOC free and even the vegetation cleared at the homesite was mulched and returned to the land. The home has a media room, wine cellar, game room and exercise area as well as a wet bar and family room. The home is listed at $4.5 million.