retreat

The house is oriented north-south, with the broad side of the structure facing east-west. This guarantees not only gorgeous views of the sunset, but also minimizes wind exposure.

One of the building challenges was transportation through the steep and windy roads to the isolated site, which is 0.5km away from Cornwall, one of Connecticut's smallest towns.

With an off-the-grid house on a remote mountain, architect Smiljan Radić rebuilds the past.

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.