Favorites

The functional bedrooms have been designed as retreats for when larger groups stay at the home. Each family suite has a full en-suite shower room, large cupboards, and a seating area for relaxing.

The passage that leads to the bedrooms doubles as a library, with large bookshelves and a reading window.

The earth bags used to construct the dome are plastered with an earth and straw plaster and painted with a homemade Swedish paint.

The entrance is carved into the hillside and leads down earthen steps, past the reading window of the passage and between the two wings of the home to an entrance hall.

Witklipfontein Eco Lodge is off the grid, and features solar panels and solar water heating on the roof. Water is pumped from a borehole, used, and then treated in a French drain before it goes back to into the ground.

The experience of the farm includes to the permaculture vegetable garden, fresh farm eggs, interactions with the goats and horses, and hiking through a landscape populated by giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and warthogs.

The open-plan living area comprises an open plan kitchen, dining area, lounge, fireplace and an overlooking study. The stacking doors in the living area disappear into wall pockets leaving the space unhindered of glass, full open to the surrounding nature

The kitchen opens to the living area, and a second kitchen is located behind the main kitchen to allow for catering for large groups.

Inspired by the modernists, the brothers integrated bespoke furniture into the architecture. The bespoke cabinetry is crafted from raw, unpolished timber that has an earthy, warm colour that complements the colour and texture of the walls.

The open central stair was pivotal to the project. It allows light to move through the home both vertically and horizontally.

Eugene and Claire stand with Melissa Phillips and Jack Whettam, the founders of Hidden Acre Farm. "We feel really blessed to work with Jack and Melissa, and they have created an amazing operation. They developed this beautiful farm," says Claire. Eugene notes, "They're doing a beyond-organic operation. They have been practicing regenerative farming, so there’s a no-till method, and they use only hand-pulled equipment. Therefore, there are no carbon emissions."

Claire picked out the furnishings for the second unit, making sure none were chemically treated. A spiral staircase leads up to the bonus loft space.

In the kitchen, black marble tops sharp black cabinetry.

The scheme is kept simple, with light wood flooring throughout. "When you walk in, you feel immediately embraced by the nature outside, but you feel the warmth that the house offers," says Claire.

Looking at the rear facade, Eugene and Claire’s home is to the left, and the farming family lives in the unit on the right. The goal for that space was to create a flexible floor plan for a couple or young family, so there are two bedrooms and a bath on the main floor, plus a bonus loft above.

After a years-long search for viable land, Eugene and his wife, Claire Ko, bought an old dairy farm with good soil that could be rehabbed into an organic fruit and vegetable operation.

Architect Eugene Kwak designed Togather as a 3,000-square-foot, two-family home in the Hudson Valley.

Just off the ground-floor living room is the second bedroom, which can be easily tucked away behind sliding wood doors.