"Elegant living paired with eco-friendly designs adopted from European housing standards." That's how the principals of H-Haus LLC, Santa Fe, describe their Cube-series homes.

Featuring contrasting vertical and horizontal modules, the H-Haus is stylish and designed to be as environmentally benign as possible, with super-insulated walls and roofing, solar-assist heating, operable skylights, and a catchment strategy that routes rainwater from roofs through the walls to buried cisterns to be re-used in landscaping irrigation.

The houses have a floating quality, as some walls are cantilevered beyond the building footprint. Double-height entries, wood flooring, cook's kitchen, and wraparound balconies are part of the scheme.

The biggest model, at 2,100 square feet, is the Cube 5, which H-Haus exhibited at the Cleveland Home & Garden Show in February 2006. It has two bedrooms with private balconies, a spa bath and contemporary-design plumbing fixtures, wiring for high-speed Internet, and a glass bridge between the spa and the bedrooms.