Eser Home
A California Home Turns Heads with Kameleon Colour
Choosing a colour for your new home can be a difficult decision. Selecting one single pigment to represent you and your home takes time and consideration and when the Eser’s were faced with this decision in early 2015, they turned to Sherwin-Williams for help.
Ilhan and Kamer Eser were looking to downsize after the last of their three daughters left the family home — but not in the typical way. After all their years living in different homes and different states, the Esers decided the time was finally right to build their own home in the California countryside.
“Every time you buy a house there is always something you compromise on and just have to live with,” said Ilhan. “So we said, ‘Let’s build what we want, exactly how we want.’”
As the CEO of MORIN, a Kingspan Group Company, Ilhan also recognised that his home construction gave him an interesting opportunity to utilise his company’s metal panels in an unconventional way. After a yearlong planning process — during which the Esers created their own design without an architect—the plans were set. The Esers’ metal home would be a net zero house, using efficient technologies like solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling. Utilising Kingspan Insulated Panels for the walls and roof would not only give the home a modern appearance, but provide an R-value of 42 — well exceeding California’s building standards.
“When people think ‘metal’ they think of agricultural silos or warehouses,” said Ilhan. “Everyone we told was like, ‘Are you sure you want a residential metal building?’”
But the Esers had an ace up their sleeve — Ilhan’s longstanding relationship with Sherwin-Williams. After hearing about the couple’s project, a trusted Sherwin-Williams representative sent the Esers samples of Kameleon™ Colours — pearlescent paints that appear to shift in colour based on the lighting or viewing angle.
“Initially I was a little sceptical,” said Kamer, “but then the more we looked at it, I really liked the way the colours reflected in the sun, and we liked that it was a bold move.”
Bold is right. This unique product uses mica flakes to create a consistent, iridescent gradient look. The mica flakes do not contain an electrostatic charge — unlike the usual metal flakes used in metallic paints — that can cause the flakes to follow the back and forth movements of the application equipment leading to an uneven dispersion of colour.
Sherwin-Williams Fluropon Effects Kameleon™ Colours are available in a range of gradient pearlescent colours, with custom colours created upon request. The Esers selected Kameleon’s Dusty Rose shade to complement the home’s countryside setting. “It fits with nature,” said Ilhan. “It is a colour, or more precisely, a multicolour paint, where in the morning or during the daytime it is more green and yellow, and in the evening it turns from silver to almost a bronze, brick colour or dark brown.” The Dusty Rose coating was applied in a three-coat system with primer, basecoat and colour coat, resulting in a highly durable end product that offers the same advanced protection as Sherwin-Williams 70 percent PVDF Fluropon product.
The couple also chose Sherwin-Williams Fluropon coating in Surrey Beige for the home’s roof, which adds solar reflectivity and contributes to the home’s energy efficiency. Fluropon coatings are trusted to resist humidity, fading, chalking, abrasions and most chemicals, while retaining the intended colour, gloss and appearance overtime.
Now that their project is complete, the Esers are enjoying showing off the results to friends and family. “Our friends who initially said, ‘Are you really sure?’ are now saying, ‘It looks great,’” states Kamer.
“People literally change course when they’re driving to come look at it,” said Ilhan. “Our home is not on a main throughway, so spectators deliberately drive to our lot, slow down or even stop in front of the house to see the colour change as the angle changes. Even I still enjoy it when I’m pulling into the driveway. It’s very, very unique and everybody’s first impression is, ‘Wow, how did you guys do that?’ I guess we made a statement!”
Eser Home, Woodland, California
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on July 21, 2015. Valspar was acquired by The Sherwin-Williams Company on June 1, 2017.
Project Credits:
- General contractor: Ilhan Eser
- Architect: Ilhan Eser
- Panel supplier: MORIN, a Kingspan Company Group
- Panels installation: Rua and Sons Mechanics Inc., Lincoln, CA
- Solar power systems – SolarEdge: Gimenez Electric, Woodland, CA.
- Engineered Septic System: A.P. Plumbing & Fire, Woodland, CA.
- Geothermal heating and cooling system – Hydron Module: Sierra Eco Systems, Genoa, NV
- Fire-Resistant Acoustic Installation - Roxul Safe’n’Sound: Auburn Acoustic Systems, Auburn, CA
- Coatings provider: Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings