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The back deck features an outdoor shower designed by Scott. Made of stainless steel and brass components, it uses a garden watering nozzle for the shower and foot-wash heads.

Outside the dining area and kitchen, Cor-Ten steel columns support a deep roof overhang. “The building is open and accessible on multiple sides, recalling a pavilion where you might gather in a park,” Shaw says. “Rather than front doors defining entry or exit points, there’s porosity.”

Poured polished concrete floors, plaster walls, and the pine ceiling with hemlock beams infuse subtle interest and warmth. The bend in the gathering pavilion follows the site’s topography.

The kitchen units in Elm Street House by Gardiner Architects are composed of blackbutt veneer and have a matte finish. The counters are Caesarstone.

The informal side entrance leads right into the open living space, which hosts a family room, dining room, and kitchen.

Don designed and built the white-oak kitchen table, which is cantilevered so knees don’t bump the underpinnings.

Eames DSW Molded Fiberglass chairs surround the dining table made of local wood and constructed by the owners.

The kitchen opens to the living area, which has a recessed gas-flame fireplace and new full-height glass walls and sliding doors.

In the new dining room, the firm surrounded a table commissioned from Ross Didier with Half Hurdle chairs in white and oak from Doweljones. An Ora pendant from Ross Gardam hangs above the table.

This dining room plays many roles, serving as a place for meals, crafts, mail collection, reading, and a toy/human race track. Renovator Erin Francois says “Cheers to small, multitasking homes that are typically never this clean.” Here she melds high and low with a Schoolhouse Luna pendant in black and Windsor dining chairs from Target.

The gallery-style interiors offer endless opportunities to display art.

“There's always food production happening, craft projects, children’s art and toys around, as well as a dog and the chooks,” said the firm. “We prioritized making small gestures, avoiding the house feeling contrived where every beautiful thing has its place. Instead, a backdrop is laid that allows the house to evolve and change alongside the family.”

Expansive doors open the the kitchen up to the forest on two sides.