McMinnville woman adds a pale gray, white and 'green' art studio onto her home

By STARLA POINTER

Of the News-Register

As soon as artist Lillian Bell bought her McMinnville house in June 2007, she started working to bring more light to the home and a more appropriate environmental setting to the property.

Outside, she ripped out grass and removed paving stones and pebbles. She softened hard angles of the ranch design with curved pathways, circular planting beds and globe-shaped bushes and rock forms.

Then she added a 400-square-foot art studio that's visually linked to the garden - and green itself, thanks to environmentally friendly materials and building techniques. It's a space that inspires Bell's artistic work, which ranges from sculpted paper to painting.

"All spaces are inspiring to an artist," Bell said. But she said this one is particularly so.

Inside, she painted the walls in soothing off-whites and dove grays, using low-VOC paint. She painted the interior of her studio the same way.

She beefed up the insulation throughout the house. She also installed new energy-efficient windows.

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Architect Marcia Mikesh of Newberg designed the studio, which features a peaked interior ceiling that makes it feel even larger than it is. With 10 windows on three sides, the room is flooded with light, even on the darkest days.

"I wanted a studio in the garden," Bell said. "What I look out at is important."

Cellar Ridge Custom Homes LLC handled the construction work.

The company used a unique framing process featuring offset 2-by-4 studs on a 2-by-6 plate. It installed insulation with a rating of R22 in the walls, where code calls for R19; R49 in the attic, where code calls for R38; and R30 under the floor, where code calls for R25.

The crew used formaldehyde-free particle board and low-VOC caulking and sealants. It installed high-efficiency Atrium vinyl windows.

Special consideration was taken to make the studio quiet so Bell can choose what she listens to, whether it's the twitter of birds or the twang of rock, zydeco or flamenco. To insulate the space from the drone of the heat pump just outside, the company erected a small but effective buttress wall.

The studio is heated by radiant ceiling panels. Bell said she likes them because they are silent and don't blow air, which scatters papers.

Bell has been interested in green building techniques since 2004.

She favors formaldehyde-free and nonemitting materials because they are better for her health. She said green building parallels her art, which has always employed found objects and recycled- or plant-based paper.

While the newly built studio is fully green, Bell calls the rest of her house "partial green." She considered environmentally friendly techniques and materials in each stage of her remodeling, but sometimes settled for less green elements due to cost considerations.

For instance, while she preferred all-wood floors and cabinets, she went with zero-VOC tile instead in some places instead.

She and her daughter, Susie Wright, collaborated as general contractors. Friend Sky Broderick also contributed.

Outside, she began a campaign to remove lawn and add more native, less thirsty plants - evergreens mostly, along with rhododendron, lavender and even artichokes. "I'm fed up with 'mow and blow,'" she said, objecting to the noise and the carbon emissions of traditional lawn care.

After consulting with landscape planner Rob Stephenson, though, she kept some mature plantings that would have been difficult and expensive to remove. One special benefit: Her back fence is unique, with wood panels alternating with natural barriers formed by shrubs.

To improve the garden, Bell needed to improve the heavy clay soil using organic amendments. She aerated the whole area and added drains.

"It's a work in progress," she said.

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