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"Conceived as a bunker nestled into the rock, the Pierre celebrates the materiality of the site," Olson Kunding states on its website. "From certain angles, the house almost fully disappears into nature." The entrance, sandwiched between a rock and a concrete wall features a steel awning. Photo by: Benjamin Benschneider.

Mad tech mogul Nathan Bateman’s home has gorgeous, expansive views of a lake and mountains, but an underabundance of trees, considering the film’s Alaskan setting. Tall trees were imported and placed on twenty meter-high stilts to create an Alaskan vibe. The hotel, perched on a steep levee within a nature reserve, is a minimalist marvel that blends into the wilderness—in building the hotel, no alterations to the terrain or rock blasting were permitted. The result is a series of birdhouse-shaped log houses that jut perilously over slopes and a collection of guest rooms that are stand-alone cubes supported by huge steel rods drilled into the rock, each with one or two glass walls that offer eye popping views of glacial mountains.

Exterior walls are clad in an sealed, unpainted western red cedar to mirror the colors of the site’s tawny meadows. As the wood ages naturally, it appears as though it emerged organically from the earth.

To further connect the indoor spaces with the New England landscape outside, glass walls in the living and dining areas slide open to eliminate the barriers between indoors and outdoors. Green slate tiles compose the flooring inside.

Inside, windows are strategically oriented to harness the power of fresh ocean breezes as a cooling device, reducing the need for large HVAC loads and maximizing areas where natural light can be used to illuminate rooms. The chimney centerpiece is clad in Vals Quartzite, a hard stone that provides a moment of cooling visual contrast in the otherwise warm living room.

The house is oriented to maximize views of the ocean and Edgartown to the west, and Nantucket and Cape Pogue Bay to the east. Natural sea grasses sourced from the surrounding area cover the roof of the building, providing thermal insulation while also dampening the noise of rain, improving air quality, and helping to manage rainwater flow.

The inspiration for this prefabricated, modular family home on Fishers Island, New York, were the views that Tanney and Luntz saw from a 12-foot stepladder, which was balancing on the bed of a pickup truck when they first visited the site.