Privacy House

A married couple whose grown son comes for visits occasionally were determined to “break free” (their words) from the traditional, “soul deadening” (ditto) residential development where they lived.

Modernists at heart, they longed for a quiet, secluded place in the woods where they could build a modern but simple, unpretentious, age-in-place house in which every square foot would be custom-designed for their lifestyle, their needs and dreams, and their passion for privacy.

After they found the perfect hide-away site in the forest, they turned to our firm to help them realize their dream. They knew our reputation for designing precisely the kind of house they imagined. They also knew we can make their dream home Net Zero so that it will use only as much energy as it produces by renewable methods. So they can “age in place” without energy bills.

The front of the house has a cypress "veil" or screen that shields the house from the street. The warmth of the wood screen makes it feel friendly while communicating "privacy".

On the south porch however, the house bursts into the landscape with an 11' cantilevered roof to provide shelter from the rain and summer sun. Primary colors on this porch also sing of freedom - the owners' escape from their former development home.

Besides the qualities already mentioned, the couple had one very specific request for their new home: They wanted “a sheltered place to sit outside and watch the rain.”

The result is a compact modern house for two, plus a bedroom for their son when he visits. The simple form, elevated where necessary to follow the natural contours of the land, is composed of three rectilinear volumes. Each volume is defined by its individual flat roofs. Roof overhangs around the entire house protect the windows and the large expanses of glazing that provide constant visual contact with the natural setting.

At the central volume, however, a large, deeply cantilevered roof reaches out to the south, shading walls of glass there, yes, but also providing shelter for the couple’s very private back porch where they will be able to “sit outside and watch the rain.”

We oriented the house on its site to maximize solar gain, natural light, and natural ventilation (the latter when weather permits). Then we supported a small solar array on the roof with an over-abundance of insulation, seals over all air gaps, an Energy Recovery Ventilator, cement board exterior cladding, windows and doors certified for passive house construction, and the roof overhangs – all to assure that the house will produce as much energy as it needs.

Inside, zero thresholds, curb-free showers, and oversized doorways are part of what will make this an age-in-place home.

For this modern house, we’re also using exterior blocks of primary colors as architectural elements, inspired by the Netherlands-based De Stijl movement of the mid-1900s. De Stijl devotees believed that harmony and order could only be established by reducing elements to pure geometric forms and primary colors.

How fitting, we believe, for a modern yet simple, unpretentious and utterly private house in the woods for two.