417 Magazine August 2009, “Green on the Greens”

Darrell Robinson and Barbara Sweet-Robinson’s eco-friendly home is one of Highland Spring’s most recent innovative additions.

By Savannah Waszczuk; Photos by Edward Biamonte

Complete article from 417 Magazine

The Highland Springs community is filled with visually impressive homes. Many have gorgeous brick exteriors, and some feature intricate stone and columns. And then there’s Darrell Robinson and Barbara Sweet-Robinson’s home. With an exterior that includes self-maintaining cedar siding and solar-reflective roofing, the home looks different than all the others in the community. And the house is impressive for many reasons aside from curb appeal.

Both the home’s interior and exterior were designed with the environment in mind, and the décor is minimal and modern. The style is not too popular in 417-land yet, but it is quickly becoming the desired look in other parts of the country, such as southern California, where Barbara’s son, Robert Sweet, lives. Robert works at the design studio ras-a, inc. and was the home’s project designer.

Barbara, who is a former clinic administrator, and Darrell, who used to sell IBM computer systems, first lived together in Barbara’s former home, a 12,000-square-foot country French-style house that sat on 48 acres in Strafford. But the couple spends the winter months in Arizona, and it wasn’t easy to leave the massive property unattended so often. “At this time in our lives, we wanted something simple and easy to take care of,” Darrell says. “And since we were going to build, we wanted to do right for the environment.”