Tacoma Green Roof in People Magazine
As we were sitting in Joy Teriyaki on Sixth Avenue this weekend, flipping through a copy of People Magazine, we stumbled onto something unexpected. There, between my chicken katsu and some wannabe celebutant, was a familiar image. It was the green roofed house at South 7th and Alder. Tacoma made People magazine? And for a green roof?
We really like the goat.
Whatever it takes for our 3 seconds of fame.
More information and images can be found at the home’s GreenRoof.com profile page and on the GreenRoof.com blog.
Also seen by The Urbanist
Filed under: General
12 comments
C Christine September 29, 2008
There is no “resident goat”. The poor lonely animal’s constant crying kept all the neighbors awake all night and animal control ordered it removed. It went to a farm where it could live with other goats. They are herd animals and don’t like to be alone.
The ivy covering the front of the house is surely tearing the siding apart by now and every summer I await the errant bottle rocket to turn the brown roof to flame.
I know, I sound really negative, but does being green include several non-mobile cars parked on the street in front, or commercial delivery at 5:30am in a residential nieghborhood? The delivery wasn’t a small van like Fed-Ex, this involved a forklift.
Sign me as: Tired of living next door to the grass roof.
C Christine September 29, 2008
I’m not talking ivy with the guy who is allowing ivy to overtake the huge fir right next to his house. Clearly he’s not a total expert.
C Christine September 29, 2008
Correction: The ivy is overtaking the huge CEDAR next to his house, not a Fir as previously posted.
A altered chords September 29, 2008
Why just last week he inspected a roof of a house I had an offer on.
He explained to me (he’s a roofer mind you) that what tears a roof apart is Heat. When you have a poorly ventilated attic it is a double whammy of heat rising from inside the house and burning sun beating down on the roof.
The grass greatly extends the life of a roof.
C Christine September 29, 2008
I’m not saying he’s a bad roofer. Now does the grass extend the life of the roof, or is the grass the roof?
The downside that I see? With grass and sod comes moisture and although I saw the marine grade rubber he coated the house with before placing the sod, but there always seems to be places that moisture finds its way in. Under the rubber, it won’t escape and it will seep into the roof structure, cause rot and eventual collapse due to weight. I don’t know if he increased the structure under the roof, but your average house is not built to support many extra tons of roofing material. Particularly if we have a wet winter, then a nice snow cover.
But whatever.
A altered chords September 29, 2008
The grass extends the life. There is more to the roof than grass but beyond that I do not know the details.
Y You're Welcome September 30, 2008
A well made green roof can last 50 years, just like any well built roof. Green roofs have been around for a long time, some countries tax your property if you don’t build with a green roof. After all of these years, green roofs have become a well manufactured craft.
Perhaps you should stop your whining, some people are not afraid to think outside of the box. If you hate it so much, move!
M Mofo from the Hood September 30, 2008
For years I annually got up on a ladder to clean my house gutters of micro-gardens that resembled that guys roof. Not once did I get even an honorable mention in an illegitimate magazine.
C Christine September 30, 2008
The thatch roofs (rooves?) of Europe are known to last a very long time. The downside being how fast they burned when the Visigoths or the the Vikings invaded.
Mofo, I think you deserve your moment of fame, try planting crops like squash or corn in you gutters…that would be cool. You’d make some sort of magazine for sure.
A altered chords September 30, 2008
Mofo. I’ve heard of a weed that people smoke around here. You could plant that on your roof.
Many organizations would take pictures of you and your roof.
And if visigoths, vikings or your dungeons and dragons friends set it on fire, your neighbors would enjoy the side effect.
T Thorax O'Tool September 30, 2008
reminds me of a family in Portland that I read about last year.
They grow veggies on all of their land and grow them on the roof of the house too.
S Steven September 30, 2008
Christine,
Living next to unpleasant neighbors is never fun, but it sounds more like they are inconsiderate than the roof specifically.
I have to say, the goat cracks me up. Maybe if we had more green roofs, we could have more goats and it wouldn’t get lonely. Now I’m getting vision of Hedi the Alp girl….