Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinJohn and Arlene Watkins downsized to 3,250 sq. ft. in Tetherow. “The passive solar heating warms the concrete slab floors in the winter. It’s 45 degrees outside now, and yet it’s 70 degrees inside the house now and we haven’t turned on our heat in weeks,” said John last winter.

When John and Arlene Watkins decided to build their second home in Bend, they specifically told architect David LiaBraaten from DesignHaus that they wanted “a modern, contemporary design with Japanese flair,” said John Watkins.

The Watkinses aren’t new to homebuilding and remodeling, having remodeled and added an addition onto their first home in Sunriver.

The Watkins family also built a 4,900-square-foot home on a 2.5-acre lot in Bend, but as the couple looked toward being empty-nesters, they decided to downsize in Tetherow.

With a half-acre lot, the Watkinses decided they wanted a single-story home that would be easy to care for and would be energy efficient by using passive solar heating in the winter.

“This house has slab grade heating, including in the garage,” said John Watkins. “The passive solar heating warms the concrete slab floors in the winter. It’s 45 degrees outside now, and yet it’s 70 degrees inside the house now and we haven’t turned on our heat in weeks.”

“We really feel our designer got it exactly right; we got our contemporary modern home with Japanese flair,” said John Watkins as he looked around the open living room with obvious satisfaction.

— Reporter: pnakamura@bendbulletin.com