The goal for the single family residence was to create a simple, compact live-work home in the mountains that fully embraces living in nature while addressing the social and environmental challenges of living in the mountains.

As the architect and home owner, we tightly tailored this 1800 s.f. home to meet our program needs while being economical to build and use.  To reduce car travel and our carbon footprint, we committed to working primarily from home and needed a design that created a clear separtion between home and work.  The solution was a two-story structure with living quarters on the top, and our offices, guest room and garage on the lower level.

The house is composed of three simple forms.  The lower level reads as a solid rectangle base that tucks into the hillside with small punch openinigs for windows.  This createes a cozy work experience with grade level views of the landscape while also creating a solid base for the lighter, three-sided glass living room cantilevered above.  At 15' wide, the living room feels both suspended and surrounded by nature while serving a secondary purpose:  a covered front porch below.  The third and final mass, the scondary living spaces, simply stacks on top of the concrete walls below for economy in both cost and materials.  Clad in corrugated, fire-resistant metal siding, these secondary spaces have floor to ceiling windows making the rooms feel bigger and connected to nature.