Recent empty nesters looking to relocate from Portland to Bend contacted our team to design an escape fit for their eventual retirement. Needing space for themselves and their two dogs, as well as private guest rooms for visits from grown children, they imagined a home that supports their active lifestyle – specifically accommodating a lap pool and home gym. The responding design reacts delicately to the complex site, shielding occupants from neighbors to the northeast while opening westward into a 650-acre nature preserve, providing hiking and cross-country skiing access as well as uninterrupted forested views.  

The home’s private wing stretches to protect an outdoor lap pool and sitting area, acting as a shield from strong winds as well as a neighboring property close by. The public spaces run perpendicularly, housing a great room that opens completely onto an outdoor patio and firepit, creating a protected living space for cool Oregon evenings. A glassy, windowed bridge elicits a sense of transition and compression between the two spaces.  

Courtyards tucked into the private wing break up the linear form, inviting light and garden views into the guest bedrooms and offices. In the great room, a dynamic roof form runs diagonally through the space, and clerestory windows dramatically open into the surrounding tree canopy.

As lovers of modern design, and former owners of a Richard Neutra home in Portland, the homeowners were interested in exploring crisp geometries and materials like non-combustible paneling and concrete flooring in their mountainous site. On the exterior, operable wood screens offer shade in indoor spaces and add warmth and textural interest. Inside, black steel, warm wood, white plaster, and concrete form a dynamic material palette that complements snowy forested views.