Riverfold House

Jeremy Bittermann

• Architects

Set along the edge of an urban yet profoundly wild downtown river—this 6,500-square-foot family home is designed as both a connector and refuge: immersed in the power of the river while offering privacy from its public edge. Anchored to a basalt outcrop, the house follows the energy of the rapids in a long, linear form, articulated by a series of courtyards that pull the landscape inward, creating eddies of stillness within the flow of the house.

photo_credit Jeremy Bittermann — Jeremy Bittermann

The striking undulating roof traces the memory of surrounding landforms, tilting and folding to frame the ever-shifting high desert sky. Inside, spaces hover between cliff and riverbank, heightening the sensation of dwelling above water. The material palette is inseparable from this place—silvered cedar siding weathers into the landscape, while the fresh cut Douglas fir lends a tactile sense of calm throughout.

The entry sequence meanders as a path through staggered board-formed concrete walls and vertical wood louvers, gradually revealing glimpses of the river beyond. This shifting path leads through a blackened steel pivot door, arriving into the centrally located living room and kitchen, the largest volume of the home. From this point movement occurs along the length of the house, marked by the rhythm of the alternating courtyards and spaces that flank both sides of the main circulation path. Massive, sharply faceted volcanic boulders placed throughout the site—sourced from nearby land by the owner—anchor the building in place and introduce a visceral, sculptural contrast.

The interior floors are a custom white terrazzo, inspired by the pumice layers found throughout the region. At the center of the home, a sculptural fireplace—shifted, stepped and faceted, clad in rough-textured white brick—acts as a visual anchor, recalling the fractured surfaces of nearby columnar basalt flows while reflecting light into the space.

The house is defined by an interplay of interior volumes and open courtyards, variously oriented toward water, sky, or garden. Views pass through multiple layers—interior and exterior—reinforcing the sense of continuity with the site. At the living room, a stepped descent leads to the central river garden, a semi-enclosed outdoor space shaped by the house and framed by the roof above. Staggered concrete walls guide movement down again to the river’s edge from this garden, completing the home's continuous dialogue between land, water, and sky.