At Michael and Fayelle Anderson’s house, it’s what’s inside that counts. Not that there’s anything wrong with the stucco-and-shingle exterior or the gardens that still look great in November. But the Andersons have a fantastic foundation and a heck of a heater. Oh, and the decor is pretty nice, too.

The three-bedroom house they built on the outskirts of Bar Harbor truly works for them, from the highly efficient radiant-heat floors and the foundation with built-in insulation to the placement of rooms, windows and doors.

“It’s an idea whose time has come,” Michael Anderson said of the foundation. “It’s a good idea for us to get away from so much timber.”

For the foundation, the Andersons chose a Canadian product called Blue Maxx that consists of concrete poured between two layers of polystyrene. Rather than stop at the basement, though, they built the outside walls of the first floor this way as well, to retain heat and cut back on wood. The second floor is a traditional frame construction.

“We must be overextending ourselves in forestry,” Michael Anderson said. When he and his wife were looking to build a new

house, they found the cost of wood-frame construction high and the quality of the wood low. “I think as that tradition continues, a lot more people will be building out of concrete and other materials.”

Nate Hills, Fayelle Anderson’s nephew, helped them build. And while he’d worked on some minor construction projects in the past, they were nothing like this.

“It was cool,” Hills said. “It’s like big Legos.”

Outside, it doesn’t look any different from a traditional stucco house. Inside, the difference is visible and tangible. Because the building material is so thick, the windowsills are nearly a foot deep. And because the concrete and polystyrene don’t let any moisture or air through, there’s no draft.

“The heat is so wonderful in here you never have to touch the thermostat,” Michael Anderson said. “The foundation and insulation are one and the same.”

In addition to the foundation, the Andersons also installed a hydronic heating system that pumps warm water through a concrete slab in the floor. The boiler takes its cue from an outdoor thermometer.

“If the temperature falls outside, the furnace knows it has to start pumping out a little bit of heat,” Michael Anderson said. “It circulates an even temperature in the slab all the time, and the boiler merely adds a bit of hot water when it’s needed.”

It’s a warm house, both in temperature and atmosphere. It feels comfortable and soothing. To achieve this, the Andersons did extensive planning before, during and after the building process, analyzing their activities, preferences and needs.

“We kind of used two disciplines. One was feng shui, and the other was pattern language,” Michael Anderson said. “We feel the feng shui really works. It’s almost magical how paying attention to feng shui really optimizes things in your life.”

The area near their front door represents the “water element” in feng shui. They painted the door a dark blue, the floor is cool and dark, and they incorporated wavy lines and a fountain into the design.

They combined feng shui with the principles outlined in “A Pattern Language,” a “bible for builders” that teaches people how to design using a coherent “language” that lets them show their individuality while complementing the world around them.

“You analyze your activities, how you dress, eat breakfast, following the sun,” Michael Anderson said. “The house just designs itself and you end up with exactly what you want with no extra rooms.”

Because they wanted to “bring the outdoors in,” they designed the breakfast room in the east, where they could enjoy the morning sunshine while overlooking a beautiful garden.

The breakfast room adjoins the kitchen, designed around an antique hutch that’s among the couple’s favorite pieces.

“We’re professional cooks so we put a lot of energy into the kitchen,” Michael Anderson said.

He is the food service director at College of the Atlantic. She works as a pharmacist, but also runs a catering business with Michael. Their kitchen combines professional-grade appliances with custom-made cherry cabinets and granite countertops. Use of the wood and complementary colors in other rooms gives the house a sense of harmony.

Upstairs, the rooms are simple and spare – one bedroom for Fayelle and Michael, one for each of their two sons, an office and a tiled bathroom with a built-in shower and tub.

When they decided to move from their previous house in downtown Bar Harbor, they wanted to downsize. This way of building allowed them to design exactly what they needed, placed exactly where they wanted it.

“This one flows a lot better [than our previous house],” Fayelle Anderson said.