This Little House in Washington Has Mighty Big Ties to Nature

Nestled in a second-growth forest, this Pacific Northwest retreat is deliberately simple yet modern.

Text by

When Seattle–based architecture firm MW|Works was asked to design a home on a tiny repurposed foundation, they made up for the small footprint by embracing the expansive outdoors.

With the focus laid squarely on the landscape, the 400-square-foot dwelling—named Little House—is deeply woven into nature.

Large windows punctuate the north elevation to pull views of the the water and landscape indoors.

The boxy volume is fitted in oxidized black-cedar cladding atop blackened-cement infill panel walls to blend the building into the wooded lot. Large glazed openings create a seamless indoor/outdoor experience.

The southern and eastern elevations are mostly left opaque to provide privacy from the nearby access road.

The owners, who reside in Houston, Texas, commissioned the home as a summer retreat after they fell in love with the "wildness" of Hood Canal.

The dark cladding helps recede the simple, boxy home into the lush forest.

To keep the magic of the area intact, the clients sought a compact and efficient getaway that wouldn’t detract from the outdoors. They purchased a 1.7-acre forested lot on a north-facing bluff in Seabeck, Washington, and resolved to repurpose the property’s existing 400-square-foot foundation to minimize the site impact.

The entry is marked by a thin, cantilevered canopy hovering over the front porch.

"The small footprint ultimately served as an effective tool to govern the design process," explains MW|Works. "Focus was placed on the essentials and extras were edited out by both desire and necessity."

Full-height windows blur the distinction between indoor and outdoors in the living area.

The two-story cabin houses the bedrooms in the upper level while an open-plan living room, dining area, and kitchen occupy the ground floor. The home also opens up to an outdoor ipe deck and patio.

A small outdoor patio with precast concrete pavers is placed on the west side of the home to soak up the afternoon sun. The patio connects to a series of trails that lead through the forest and to the beach.

"The resulting project hopes to capture the essence of the modern cabin—small in size but much larger than its boundaries," continues the architects.

Shop the Look

IKEA INDUSTRIELL Chair

IKEA

Whoever said that mass-produced products have to look the same? The opposite is evident here – rustic, sturdy furniture with a handmade feel where the color, woodwork and surface varies. Photo Courtesy of IKEA

Shop

Scandia Senior Easy Chair

When Hans Brattrud designed the Scandia chair collection in Norway in the 1950s, the idea was first born from a school project. About a year later, he discovered laminated wood at a German fair—and the rest is history.

Shop