Concrete Homes, a national monthly industrial publication, featured construction of a Fountain Hills home on the December/January cover of the magazine.

When owners, Linda and Mike Howell, moved from a farmhouse in the state of Washington to Arizona, they knew that they wanted a contemporary, minimalistic, energy efficient, single-level home with clean lines.

They first bought a condo in 2013 and began researching a house design that would fit their wishes.

They contacted Gary Fetters, general contractor at Castle Rock Homes, in October 2016, inquiring about Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) homes. Linda’s sketches created a blueprint.

ICF are premade forms that fit together like Legos or large interlocking blocks. The outside of the form consists of flat sheets of foam insulation. These sheets are connected with plastic framework.

During construction, the ICF blocks are fitted together, laced with rebar, and filled with concrete. The forms are insulated on the inside and the outside, providing high level of wall insulation uncommon in standard home construction.

The Howells purchased a one-acre hillside lot with a view of Red Mountain and the Four Peaks. They broke ground in March 2015. The house is about 2,200 square feet with two master bedrooms and bathrooms and a casita. A kitchen, office, living room, walk-in pantry and large laundry room complete the floor plan.

The 13-inch concrete walls underground provide a safe room in the event of a disaster.

After 16 months of construction, they moved into the new home in June 2016.

The house won for most innovative small residential project in North America, an honor presented at the 2017 ICF Builder Awards conference.

The magazine article quotes Fetters as saying he and his brother started Castle Rock Homes in 2004 after they retired from the military.

Fetters said he ran across ICF many years ago and thought it was a cool way to build a house.

All retaining walls and the swimming pool are ICF. An unusual feature of the design is that it contains several 45-degree corners.

Concrete construction requires the homeowner to be sure about design features because once concrete is poured, it is costly to make changes.

“We are so happy with the builder,” commented Linda.