Sustainable strategies were considered in the early planning stages of the residence. For example, instead of demolishing the original residence, the design team and homeowners opted to carefully dismantle it in order to salvage lumber and other materials, some of which were repurposed into the final design. MDA incorporated time-proven passive solar concepts to maximum effect, including southern exposures, thermal mass, cross ventilation for natural cooling and carefully calibrated solar shading along the generous southern overhangs. Other sustainable features include grey water harvesting, whereby the bathing and laundry water are stored and repurposed to flush toilets and irrigate the landscape, as well as photovoltaic panels that produce electricity and solar thermal panels that preheat the domestic and pool water. Another important design move was to preserve a hundred-year-old, above ground concrete cistern, a remnant of the site’s agrarian history.