Kitchen island

The almost-entirely tallowwood kitchen is custom. Muuto pendant lights, bar stools by Alvar Aalto for Artek, a Vola faucet, and a ceiling fan by Beacon Lighting finish the room.

In the kitchen, an 11-foot island is topped with Carrara marble and lined with Molar Stools from Blackman Cruz. All of the casework was done by Pacassa Studios.

The kitchen contains countertops and backsplash in stainless steel, which offers a muted softness to the space. "The stainless steel has a very thin profile, so it continues that theme of delicate, light expression which we wanted for the house,

The couple loves to cook and host, so the kitchen was designed to be sturdy—"I just didn't want anything to be precious,

Valspar ‘Black Evergreen’ covers the beams, doors, and trim. The perimeter counters are concrete, by Cement Elegance.

The cherry cabinetry throughout, including the kitchen island with the exposed corner, “echoes” the post-and-beam architecture, says Wang.

The design team restored the cork floors. The island lights are Sven Middleboe for Nordisk and are original to the house. The counters are Ceppo Di Gre Marble and the door to the restored pantry is painted Tarrytown Green by Benjamin Moore, and given a porthole window with reeded glass.

After: The soaring new living and dining space benefits from an abundance of natural light from every side, and they spent a lot of time trying to find the best lighting for the kitchen. The final choice: long, narrow copper pendants from Denmark suspended by ultra thin wires to not disrupt the visual flow of the room.

All of the door and cabinet hardware, lighting, appliances, plumbing, and accessories are black to create consistent pops of depth and definition throughout the interior.

Lead architect, Tom Lenchek, opted for simple forms and materials that direct attention outwards, towards the cabin's natural surroundings.

“Using only wood to form a cabinet results in artistic moments. Diagonals read as decorative, but these strong triangles are necessary when you’re not using plywood,” Caleb says. “It’s pure joy to use the kitchen, knowing that all parts of it are built with meaning and without compromise.

The rebuilt “Idea House,” designed by Holly Freres and David Horning of JHL design. The driveway is permeable to encourage good drainage: crushed granite gravel is installed over a stabilization mat. James Hardie exterior siding is painted in Benjamin Moore ‘White Dove,’ with reclaimed wood used for the entry and garage.

He made the shelving, cabinets, and shroud in the kitchen from a felled maple tree.

The kitchen is composed of stainless steel, from the cabinetry fabricated by Barcelona company Timblau, to the counters and backsplash, the latter given a mirror polish for contrast to the former’s patina on the surfaces. The boxes were brought in on a crane and then the group put them together in place. “The kitchen shouldn't be a closed dirty area of the house,” says Jon. “But [rather] the heart.” Fitting, as social life in the Basque culture revolves around eating together.