The result of the project is an artfully arranged house that looks out on open fields (protected by a land trust) and the rolling landscape beyond. “The only downside is that the area is farmed, so we get manure smells,” Doug jokes.
The couple’s two sons, Isaac and Charlie, play music with Charlie’s girlfriend, Saskia Randle, in the living room, where an Isamu Noguchi Akari lantern hangs above a Cloud sectional from RH Modern.
The driveway leads down a gentle slope to the garage, which is partially tucked into the earth, covered by a green roof, and fronted by a ramp leading to the entrance. Alexander Prideaux of Aurora Landscape helped integrate the house with the site.
“There are a lot of well-loved, well-used pieces that were destined for this house,” Andrea says of the couple’s furniture collection. They placed a solid alder Homestead table from Whittier Wood Furniture in the office, which also overlooks the pond.
Among the few new pieces the couple acquired for the house is a blue Bantam sofa from Design Within Reach, which complements the Westnofa Siesta chairs by Ingmar Relling in the living room. The kitchen includes a Jenn-Air refrigerator and a Bosch oven.
In the master bedroom, stepped windows framed by Douglas fir mullions rest on low concrete walls that are flush with the easy-to-maintain, hand-troweled concrete floor. The platform bed is from Scan Design and the rattan chair is from Ikea.
The couple brought most of the house’s furnishings from their previous home, including the living room’s hand-knotted South Persian Gabbeh that belonged to Philip Heid, Ted’s father. Philip put in the pond, beyond, when he bought the property.
The Heids incorporated mostly native plants into the courtyard, which Andrew designed as an ovoid decagon. The George Nelson Platform bench is from Design Within Reach. Solarban low-e glass improves insulation. The layout, says Andrew, is meant to “bring people together.”
Surrounded by a canopy of trees, the house is bordered by a deep overhang that matches the width of the concrete terrace. “What I like is that the decks and the courtyard are visually part of the house, but they’re outdoor spaces,” says Ted. Heid worked with Curtis Bosworth and John Weed of WBS Construction on the project.
“We realized that having a circular house allowed us to take advantage of all of the views, as well as the topography and the solar exposure to the south,” explains Heid.
A guest room has become Doug’s remote office for the duration of the pandemic.
Concrete walls provide privacy in the main bathroom, where the Holtzes installed a deep hinoki cypress soaking tub.
Thanks to open interiors, there are clear sight lines through the landscaped courtyard, into the living spaces, and out to the surrounding scenery. “I really let the landscape and the activities inside be the focus,” Heid says.
The house comprises six pavilions—five enclosed living spaces and an open-air entryway—arranged in a ring. The landscape, designed by horticulturist Patrick Cullina, will evoke both a forest and an alpine meadow when fully grown, according to Heid. It also leaves room for one of the family’s new hobbies: vegetable gardening.
The overlapping roofs rest on structural timber window frames, allowing for column-free views through the interior.
The open-plan kitchen is a particular point of pride for Lara, who designed every detail with a local carpenter, from the textured zellige tile to the spice drawers.
"For the first three months of the pandemic, we hiked every day—rain or shine or snow,
Heid kept the interiors largely raw, which left Lara, Doug, and their interior designer friend, Elaine O’Dwyer, to fill in the blanks with a mix of modern furnishings and family treasures.
Doug and Lara Holtz tapped New York architect Andrew Heid to design a weekend home on a scenic family plot in the Berkshires. “We wanted something that was sympathetic to the views and nature,” says Lara.
“Because you have this incredible proximity and connection to the outside, you have a higher aesthetic awareness.”—Andrew Heid, architect