Collection by Dwell
Nest
A vision of an archetypal little cabin in the woods—reinterpreted with a contemporary aesthetic and a sustainable footprint—inspired Bill Yudchitz and his son, Daniel, both architects, to put their years-long dedication to the small home movement into action five years ago. “Everything we saw was ugly, corny, and Spartan,” says Yudchitz. “We wanted to prove that architecture can be artful and soulful, but still tiny, affordable, and green.” With Yudchitz’s practice, Revelations Architects/Builders, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and Daniel working for architecture and engineering firm HGA in Minneapolis, the experiment would also yield a pair of weekend retreats for their families.
A rainwater catchment system feeds a cistern and outdoor shower.
Nest’s main room, lined in aspen plywood with a Douglas fir floor, has folding chairs found on eBay and a fold-out birch table designed by the team.
Daniel hangs a folding chair, Shaker style, on the wall adjacent to the entrance. The room gains extra light through slivers of space between the slats of the floor above. Structural two-by-fours and framing were left raw.
Aluminum pipes were repurposed as ladder steps leading from the sleeping loft to the roof deck.
Floor-to-ceiling doors from Sierra Pacific Windows open the structure to the elements and provide a protective layer when not in use.