“We didn’t have a hill here and I didn’t want one,” she said. “With a hill, there is only one exit.”

Instead, the Brusses dug down three feet into the earth, built the house into that saucer, then covered it with dirt. The house is situated so that the sun goes over the top of the house in summer. When its path drops in the fall, it shines through the expanse of glass doors on the south side. The couple controls the temperature by strategically opening and closing the doors. “Wings” on either side of the house keep the wind from coming into the saucer. All of the underground blocks are covered with layers of liquid rubber, insulation, sand, gravel, then dirt. “It’s a strong house,” Mercedes said. “There’s no way anything could take it.”

One end of the sunroom was originally a greenhouse but serves now as a cheerful breakfast room. Painted a deep shade of blue, it features a working wood-burning stove in the corner and a visible chimney pipe rising through the ceiling. “It’s a great place to have a cup of coffee in the morning,” Hilbert said.

A narrow door leads to the adjacent kitchen planned to be small at Mercedes request. “I thought if we made the kitchen small, but kept it open to the living room, I could still be part of things without everyone having to sit around in the kitchen,” she said. “But guess where they are anyway? They’re leaning against the cupboards.”

Mercedes prefers small kitchens, however, and designed this one with a lower level counter for kneading bread as well as cupboards and drawers installed to take advantage of every inch of space.

“If the dishwasher is open and I open this drawer, I’ll get stuck,” Mercedes said. “If I put on weight, I’d have to move.”

Walls are mostly concrete topped with Spancrete and supported by extra wide beams. Every room has openings in the walls to promote air flow which are functionally well-placed without ruining the aesthetics of the design. The kitchen, for example, has a pass-through to the breakfast room. In other rooms, the openings look like ordinary air ducts.

Opening out from the kitchen the first part of the spacious living area holds a comfortable dining space and piano.

“I don’t like the term ‘great room,’” Mercedes said. “This is just the room we live in. We eat over here and we sit over there.” The living room is done in pretty tones of pinks and blues and features many of Mercedes’ beautiful oversize paintings. Though several in the living room are of flowers and other natural wonders, her work covers a variety of themes, including Navajo landscapes, portraits and a duck stamp that placed well in competition. A massive brick fireplace and stove help keep the house toasty all winter.

“At first we watched the thermostat in every room and kept accurate records,” Mercedes said. “You can feel a little difference in temperature in the back rooms, but never more than one or two degrees. I expected it to be colder.”

The Brusses also tried burning coal for fuel, but quickly learned that the substance was messy. They switched to wood then, last year, after Hilbert had a knee operation, they installed a furnace.

“While he was recovering, I had to be the one to carry in the wood,” Mercedes said. “I kept thinking there might be bugs in it.”

A long narrow sunroom spans much of the exposed area on the south side of the house. In summer, the room can get up to 120 degrees, according to Mercedes Bruss.

Though the home could have five bedrooms, only one, the master bedroom, is currently designated for sleeping. Adjacent to the living area, it also enjoys a full southern exposure and the lovely view of the property.

“In the morning, you can just open one eye and it’s so beautiful,” Mercedes said. “It doesn’t seem like it, but the back of our lot out there is 16 feet higher than by the road.”

The living room also opens to the “paint room” where Mercedes both works and teaches art. Hilbert works on his projects in there as well. The room is long enough for a competitive game of darts, but could easily be divided into two large bedrooms. Recently, Mercedes used the room as the site for an art show.

“What is nice is you can leave the mess,” Mercedes said.

Another bedroom features a drop down Murphy bed and provides plenty of room for Mercedes’ sewing projects. Hilbert’s bathroom incorporates bamboo patterned wallpaper with the liberal use of black. The windowless room is nonetheless bright enough to keep plants growing in the stone-lined planter that follows the curve of the wall behind the sink.

The room is lit with a skylight open to the rear foyer and affords another view of the soaring mallards. The computer room opens up across the foyer. A carpeted laundry area with lots of storage space makes it easy to mingle routine household chores with artistic endeavors.

“You’re not running up and down the stairs all the time,” Mercedes said.

The cold room is designed to be absolutely functional. With lots of storage, a freezer and stove, the room stays at 65 degrees all
summer.

“We can do all the canning right here,” said Hilbert, an avid gardener who plants corn, peppers, tomatoes, squash, melons, beans and more every year. “We almost live off of the garden. We could manage for a long time.”

Mercedes admits that building the home took lots of research and study. The couple did not want to adapt the hill or envelope concepts popular for conservation-oriented homes at the time. Also a draftsman, she drew everything to scale, then took the plan to a young architect and challenged him to make sure the design was safe and strong. The architect came back with more typical design ideas which Mercedes quickly rejected. Insisting on their own design has paid off.

Hilbert and Mercedes both seem considerably younger than their years, a condition they would attribute to hard work and love of life. Their home is a big part of both.