Decks

The multi-purpose room opens to the courtyard and looks over a small reflecting pool to the Puget Sound beyond.

For more than 70 years, claims have persisted, without much evidence, that a home in Portland, Oregon, is a lost work by Frank Lloyd Wright. Regardless of authorship, the structure—a flat-roofed, cedar and glass ranch—endures as a sterling example of postwar American architecture. Its recessed entryway features panes of translucent glass.

The house was designed to minimally interfere with the hilltop vegetation, which is what attracted the family to the site.

The 1969 summer house needed a gut remodel—so Carisa Salerno and Aaron Levin rebuilt it piece by piece: “In the end, we feel like we built a sculpture, not a house.”

Designed by Arba, the retreat’s enclosed garden provides outdoor space out of the wind while the cuts give it a strong connection with the setting.

The cozy, 323-square-foot cabin is a cozy retreat amidst the vast landscape it inhabits.

Having the fire in the corner allows all of the spaces in this the open concept room to enjoy the fireplace.

The new volume extends into the backyard but increases the house’s footprint by only 225 square feet. It is slightly taller than the existing structure, minimizing overlap between roofs. The cladding is composed of marine-grade plywood panels, colored black with Benjamin Moore’s Arborcoat exterior stain, to create an affordable facsimile of cement fiberboard panels. The patio is paved in black decomposed granite.

Otto looks through the newly enlarged opening to the revamped backyard. The bifold doors are from Sierra Pacific, and the deck is made from sustainably harvested Fijian mahogany. The architect replaced the kitchen’s linoleum floor with engineered oak flooring.

Wrapped in glass on three sides, the Woodnest tree houses offer panoramic views of the surroundings mountains and fjord.

“The roof construction is the primary architectural expression of the house,” reads the project description on AGPS’s website. “Cantilevered by steel beams, the roof is pivoted from the front wall anchored by tension cables. Continuous glass windows are between the top of the house walls and the roof plane, emphasizing the flying roof.”