house accommodates MS [Daily Nebraskan]
Five years ago, when Cecilia Rossiter was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system that affects mobility, vision and muscles, she knew she needed a new beginning away from the big city anonymity and extreme housing costs.

So Rossiter, a professional cellist originally from Omaha then living in Washington, D. C., decided to return to Nebraska and was attracted by the tight-nit university community in Lincoln.

But she struggled to find a house that accommodated her disabilities until she heard about a collaborative program between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Architecture and NeighborWorks Lincoln, a group that promotes homeownership, which brought her dream house to life.

Mark Hoistad, the director of the UNL architecture program, said the collaborative effort allowed graduate architecture students to design the house, provide the construction documents and frame the building while NeighborWorks hired a contractor to finish the construction of the house.

The project was designed in the fall of 2004 by a final proposal out of a class of 15 students with construction not finalized until the summer of 2005.

Hoistad, who taught the design class that produced the house's final design, said the house was designed to conform to American with Disabilities Act standards to make it accessible to anyone with a mobility disability.

After living in the house for a few months, Rossiter said she appreciates the house's built-in features, such as a ramp in the garage and three-foot-wide doors, because she is beginning to have mobility problems.

Those with disabilities often feel trapped in buildings that aren't accessible, she said.

Hoistad said other features of the house were a garden lot that cut into the frame of the house and a glass corridor area that used passive solar energy.

"The corridor allows sun in the winter and shade in the summer," Hoistad said.

The corridor's cinderblock wall absorbed heat in the summer and keeps heat from the basement inside during the winter, Rossiter said.

She also said the energy-efficient corridor served another purpose.

"It's lovely in an unintended way," Rossiter said. "I have low vision. The bank of windows makes me feel much happier with sunlight coming in."MORE: UNL-designed house accommodates MS