Roxbury House
Paul Warchol
Product Spec Sheet

ElementBrandProduct Name
Bathroom faucet & shower fittingsVOLA
Stone FlooringNemo Tile Company
Direto
SinkCORIAN® Design
ManufacturersCEADESIGN
Living Room Sofa, coffee table, chairsB&B Italia
PendantsMoooi

Product Spec Sheet
Bathroom faucet & shower fittings
Stone Flooring
Direto by Nemo Tile Company
Sink
Manufacturers
Living Room Sofa, coffee table, chairs
Pendants
by Moooi

Roxbury House

Desai Chia Architecture as Architects

Low to the ground and high on a hill is the Roxbury House, marrying art and landscape in intimate moments and broad gestures. Located so as to minimize site disturbance and maximize meadow views, the Roxbury House expresses a oneness with its site. Deep roof overhangs mirror the slope of the topography, accentuating the interior experience’s ability to expand beyond the built extents of the home.

photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol

The lines between art and landscape are similarly blurred; organized as an undulating cluster of forms, the program meanders around two courtyards that showcase built and natural environments. This strategy allows the courtyards to become “outdoor rooms” embedded within the home, providing alternating views to nature and art that are focused at times, and expansive at other moments.


photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol

The clients, art gallery owners, wanted the flexibility to use their home as an extension of their New York gallery, a place to display artwork by the contemporary Latin American artists that they represent. They also wanted to leave portions of the site open for site-specific outdoor art installations. The home needed to be flexible enough to support an artist-in-residence program, so a guest house wing was included in the concept.



photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol

To achieve an open and natural flow of space while simultaneously providing varied opportunities for art display, indoor spaces and outdoor courtyards oscillate at different scales with long axial views through the house. Beautiful layers of materials and light link spaces together, while curated moments of transparency culminate with distant views to the landscape. This strategy allows natural materials to perform as art, and for art to merge into the landscape. Native birch trees embedded in the courtyards exemplify this blend, in their performance both as column and tree, architecture and landscape.

Caption

The birch trees connect the surrounding forest to the art experience; they are also a threshold, blurring the boundaries between the natural and built environment of the site. Hallways, flanked by floor to ceiling windows, simultaneously serve as gallery space and frame the courtyards.

The graphic exterior of the house is clad in cedar wood that has been lightly charred in a technique known as “shou sugi ban.”

photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol

This traditional Japanese method of charring wood makes the façade rot resistant, bug resistant and maintenance-free, and increases its longevity and durability. Shou sugi ban wood is carried inside on the walls & ceilings as well, blurring boundaries between indoors and outdoors. A lighter charring on the interior provides the vaulted spaces with a soothing color and smoother texture.

Handmade clay wall tiles along the connecting hallways of the courtyard produced in Mexico reference the client’s cultural origins and their work with Latin American artists.

Caption

The thickly glazed mosaic surfaces provide a subtly iridescent backdrop to the rotating collection of artwork on display, evocatively bouncing sunlight throughout the day. Elsewhere, the distinctive Raku-crackled ceramic tile walls resemble the texturing of the shou sugi ban wood facade, strengthening the material connection throughout the home.


Caption

Team:

Architects: Desai Chia Architecture

Structural: Murray Engineering

Civil: A.H. Howland Associates

Landscape: LaGuardia Design Group

Lighting: Christine Sciulli Light + Design

Millwork: Elephants Custom Furniture

Contractor: Berkshire Wilton Partners

Photographer: Paul Warchol

photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol
photo_credit Paul Warchol
Paul Warchol

Materials Used: 

Facade cladding: Shou Sugi Ban Cedar Siding, Dire Wolf, Delta Millworks

Flooring: Wood flooring, ‘Stile’ Rift & quarter sawn white oak, LV Wood
Stone flooring, ‘Basaltina Volcano’, Nemo Tile
Tile flooring, Direto Fluid Marble, Nemo Tile

Wall tile: Broken Joint, Artistic Tile
RCEEF-1 Mosaic Tile, Mosaic House
Fusion Hexagon, Nemo Tile
Basaltina Stone Project, Nemo Tile
Yaki Stucco, Nemo Tile

Paint: Benjamin Moore

Windows: Fleetwood Windows & Doors

Roofing:  Zalmag

Metal trim: PacClad

Door Hardware: Latchset, Valli & Valli
Pivot Hinges, Rajack
Butt hinges, Stanley
Floor stop, Baldwin
Door pulls, Sugatsune
Sliding door latchset, FSB
Sliding door hardware, Hawa
Ball catch, Rajack

Plumbing: Sink, Corian
Kitchen faucet, CEA
Bathroom faucet & shower fittings: Vola
Bathroom sink: Lacava

Toilet: Toto
Toilet: Duravit
Shower drain: Cohen
Tub, AFNY XL Tub

Appliances: Fridge, cooktop, oven, microwave, hood, Gaggenau
Dishwasher, Miele
Undercounter wine fridge, Subzero
Laundry machines, Miele
Garbage disposal, Insinkerator

Interior lighting:  Monopoint downlights, Edison Price Mini Wand
Recessed downlight, Element
Pendants, Moooi, Artemide, Vibia, Peerless
Undershelf lighting, Pure Edge
Wall Washer, Nulux

Outdoor lighting, BK Lighting

Interior furniture: Living Room Sofa, coffee table, chairs, B&B Italia
Media Room Sofa & Ottoman, Design Within Reach
Built-in wall furniture, Resource Furniture
Dining Chairs, Carl Hansen
Dining Table, Vitra

Caption
Caption
Caption
Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
Public selects SunStyle Solar Roof as 'For the Planet Award 2023' winner
8 Dec 2023 Archello Awards
Public selects SunStyle Solar Roof as 'For the Planet Award 2023' winner

Archello Awards 2023 has revealed its winning products. For each of the 17 categories, one prod... More

Vulcan Shingles by Abodo selected by jury to receive 'For the Planet Award 2023'
8 Dec 2023 Archello Awards
Vulcan Shingles by Abodo selected by jury to receive 'For the Planet Award 2023'

The Archello Awards 2023 jury has selected Vulcan Shingles, a cladding product that makes use of dis... More

Archello Houses of the Month - November 2023
8 Dec 2023 News
Archello Houses of the Month - November 2023

Archello has selected its Houses of the Month for November 2023. This list showcases the 20 most out... More

Detail: The 3D printed ceramic facade of Ceramic House in Amsterdam
7 Dec 2023 Detail
Detail: The 3D printed ceramic facade of Ceramic House in Amsterdam

Studio RAP is an architectural design company with a difference. The Rotterdam-based studio works wi... More

Public selects Parthos meeting table by Narbutas as Building Product of the Year 2023
7 Dec 2023 Archello Awards
Public selects Parthos meeting table by Narbutas as Building Product of the Year 2023

As the overall Building Product of the Year, the public has selected PARTHOS, a meeting table by Lit... More

Koinè by Luceplan selected by jury as Building Product of the Year 2023
7 Dec 2023 Archello Awards
Koinè by Luceplan selected by jury as Building Product of the Year 2023

Archello Awards 2023 has revealed its winning products. For each of the 17 categories, one product w... More

Mirato's HQ Sunrock selected by public as overall Interior of the Year 2023
7 Dec 2023 Archello Awards
Mirato's HQ Sunrock selected by public as overall Interior of the Year 2023

Archello Awards 2023 has revealed its winning projects. For each of the 27 categories, one proj... More

OHLAB’s Paral-lel buildings embrace Mallorcan design traditions and sustainability
6 Dec 2023 News
OHLAB’s Paral-lel buildings embrace Mallorcan design traditions and sustainability

In Bonanova, a quiet residential neighborhood in south-west Palma de Mallorca, Spanish multidiscipli... More