The area in
general is made up of a number of hamlets. There's this certain fabric that we were
looking to reference. There is a building type that's out here that has a certain pitch of roof,
and that was established to deal with the elements. It's called the salt box.
A lot of our work references, whether it's a historical form or detail,
it looks to grow those ideas and continue the evolution of the architecture.
For us it's important to acknowledge the culture of the place, but also consider
the current times and who will be living there.
The client came to us with the desire to display a significant art collection, and
maintain views out to the landscape, but also protect the art from the sunlight.
The clients have two grown children and their goal was to have their kids visit,
therefore the house was set up as three individual units that can operate separately,
but also at the same time be together and that would create
that multi-generational community that they were looking to achieve.
As you walk through the front door the volume to the right is the main
kitchen living dining with the master located above that space.
The two other volumes are housing the children's bedrooms and a guest room, and as the children
grow and have their own families, those guest rooms will turn into children's rooms.
One of the unique spaces between the two children's volumes is what they call the Art Cube.
It's a glass cube where they can display various types of art and
the light is filtered with woodscreen on the outside.
The way that the house was designed, the northern portion of the volumes connect all of the volumes
and that is where the art is displayed so the art is an adjoining factor for all the family members.
It was an interesting program because it was a chance to intertwine a domestic life vacation,
living with the artwork and having different experiences because of that,
and it really shaped the house in terms of the circulation but also the form of it.
In terms of the
home being an heirloom, you really need to think about not the immediate needs but the future
needs, all the way from the infrastructure of the house to the initial investment.
What are the materials, what are the types of details, is 10,
20 years good enough? No it's longer than that.
The materials that we did choose on the outside such as the bronze or the cedar, the intention
was to allow it to patina and weather, and just as the family ages and grows so does the home.
It really is a resilient home, it's a sustainable home, it's something that
initial investment will pay off in the long run.
On the interior we used a fairly limited palette of materials of limestone,
plaster on the walls and oak for ceilings and floors,
the same oak material is used throughout for the cabinetry and the casework.
Using a limited palette, it helps unify the house and give it a cohesive feel.
You can avoid these experiences that seem a bit haphazard.
When you're here you want to be immersed in nature,
looking out towards the views focusing on the art and not necessarily focusing on the architecture.
All of the Southern views connect the house to the landscape, the lawn,
the sky, the trees, it's part of why the client wants to be out here.
All of the south facing rooms open up to that landscape, the doors completely pocket
into the walls so that the house can just completely be unified with the landscape.
I think the team really came together in this project and our goal when we work with so many
team members is that they all have the same voice and that it's a unified goal in the end product.
This type of project where there's a level of care and detail that exceeds many homes is done by a
team, there's not just a team of the architects, it's having builders, craftsmen, vendors,
all different consultants to be able to achieve something that we could not do individually.
We merged together to form one voice instead of individual moments.