CEMENT CREEK RESIDENCE While the site for this house is drop-dead gorgeous, it also happens to be in a mountain valley that records some of the most extreme weather in the nation, with temperatures ranging from forty below to ninety above. And while the site receives tremendous amounts of snow, it also paradoxically enjoys three hundred-plus sunny days a year, which was critical to the clients who make this their full-time residence. In response to these conditions, the house was designed to employ both passive and active strategies to gather and store solar radiation, and materials were selected both for their green merits and for their ability to improve and patina with age, rather than require maintenance.