Cabin

“We really wanted to capture the ruinous quality of this old building rather than do something overtly new,” says Greg Blee, founding partner at Blee Halligan Architects. Before construction could begin, however, he and Halligan had to patch the remaining walls using stones found in the nearby river. Wherever a wall had collapsed, the designers inserted framing to create windows and doors. For the roof, they turned to the original tiles. “My father’s terrible at throwing things away,” Blee says. “We took the tiles off 30 years ago, as it was too dangerous to have them up there. They’ve been sitting in the fields ever since, and this was our last chance to use them.”

The diagonal redwood slats and geometric structure are wonderfully accentuated by the snow bank covering the backside of the cabin.

The west side is clad with six shutters made of horizontal, western red cedar slats that can be opened or closed with a single movement. "We wanted it to be able to feel cozy when needed," Oostenbruggen says.

Philip Jodidio's Cabins (Taschen, November 2014) chronicles how architects have explored the concept of a minimal, low-impact, and isolated abode. The book features photographs, illustrations, and text detailing projects from around the world.

Estate Bungalow in Matugama, Sri Lanka, by Narein Perera as published in Cabins (Taschen, 2014).