Collection by Fernando Lopez
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Architect Tom Kundig’s assignment was simple enough: Build a tiny, Thoreau-like getaway for an Atlanta-based writer who owned ten acres on San Juan Island in Puget Sound. "The idea was not to clutter anybody’s thinking, especially a writer’s," he said. So he designed a 500-square-foot retreat that’s both womblike and open to its surroundings.
For Bruce Shafer and Carol Horst's vacation home in the Tehachapi Mountains, architect Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig chose materials suited to the harsh climate. "The area is super cold in winter and super hot in summer," says Kundig, who designed a deep overhang to shade the core of the house from solar gain. "In the high desert, it's not just about being in the sun, it's about getting out of the sun."
Designed by Peter Bohlin of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the 3,000-square-foot house "incorporates the natural world by allowing one to experience the temperature, sights, and smells of the island as you travel through the house," Kasper says. He calls it "the house that Nirvana built," from his time as a producer for the world-famous band, along with their Seattle grunge brethren Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and the Foo Fighters.