After securing an 18-acre site with sweeping views of Mount Adams in Trout Lake, Washington, a creative couple turned to Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects to bring their long-awaited vision to life.

The clients—one being a painter and photographer, and the other a textile artist and designer—frequently find their muse in the landscape, and yearned for a creative space that maximized indoor/outdoor living.

Continuing their award-winning approach to site-specific design, the team crafted Trout Lake Residence as a contemporary and understated collection of buildings that embrace the landscape at every turn.

Because the couple wanted the studio space separate from the house, the 6,594-square-foot property was divided into four buildings arranged in two clusters.

The first grouping is a T-shaped, two-story volume that comprises the main house, a woodworking shop, and a carport. A covered courtyard sits at the intersection of these three volumes.

The second cluster—the freestanding artist studio with a covered courtyard that connects to a guest bedroom—is located northeast of the main residence and accessed via footpath.

Drawing inspiration from the rural vernacular, the minimal yet modern buildings were constructed of low-maintenance materials such as concrete, plywood and steel.

“The buildings recall the agricultural forms of the local built environment, but as is our nature in our designs, we sought to take that context and evolve it to a more emphatic modern language,” explains Tom Kundig, design principal and owner of the firm. “We sought to design something that was exquisitely proportioned in a quiet, agricultural way.”

Deferring to the landscape, Trout Lake Residence also engages the outdoors in a spectacular fashion: four 30-foot-long bi-fold doors—two on either side of the main living area and the other pair on opposite sides of the artist studio—fully open the interiors up to breathtaking views of the snow-capped Mount Adams.

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Olson Kundig / Tom Kundig

Builder/ General Contractor: Jepson West Design & Construction, Inc. / Jepson West

Structural Engineer: MCE Structural Consultants

Lighting Design: O- LLC / Veronika Batho-Demelius

Interior Design: Skylab Architecture / Amy DeVall

Cabinetry Design: Olson Kundig / Tom Kundig

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