The Now-Haus

Wynne Yelland's modernist home turned heads when it was built in 2004 near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis.

"We called it the NowHaus because it was a new way of building with sustainable and salvaged materials and it used new technology for the time," said Yelland, who designed the box-shaped, four-level home with his business partner, Paul Neseth of Locus Architecture in Minneapolis.

Yelland, with his wife, Linda, and two sons, has lived there for five years. The couple plan to buy or build a home closer to their sons' school. So they've put the experimental home on the market.

The NowHaus' unique exterior, made of translucent polycarbonate panels installed over recycled billboards, changes in color from white to steel blue as the sun crosses the sky. Best of all, it never needs painting. The interiors marry warm birch plywood-covered walls with cool steel structures, including a catwalk suspended above the living room.

"People say it has a nice, cozy feel to it despite the fact it has straight lines and geometric shapes inside and out," Yelland said.

Other features:

• The 3,089-square-foot home has four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

• The open U-shaped kitchen combines maple and cherry cabinets with concrete counters.

• Green features include a long-lasting metal roof, energy-efficient windows and floors of cork, concrete and salvaged wood.

• On the main floor, the bathroom's translucent walls illuminate the living room at night.

• A suspended staircase leads to an attic, which houses a bedroom and playroom.

• The finished lower level has a family room and hobby room.

• Location, location, location. The home is one block from Cedar Lake and near the Midtown Greenway Trail.

LYNN UNDERWOOD

Karen Rue of Edina Realty has the listing, 612-916-1110.