The residence is an exploration in erasing boundaries between indoors and out. Sited on the Oregon coast, the 2,865 square-foot home opens to the natural landscape with 180-degree views. The design employs a duality of openness and expansive views with spaces that are private and quiet.
The residence is organized in three parts, joined in U-shape formation around a central courtyard fronting the view. The main living area, the upper floor in the largest of the two buildings, is extensively glass-walled. Windows crescendo from 8 to 15-feet tall at the most outward facing point. A large covered deck extends the indoor footprint by nearly an additional 1/3, joining the massing of the residence, framing an outdoor invisible wall. The lower level is more private, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a flex room—a space that converts open living area into a guest bedroom by pulling two eight-foot sliding hemlock accordion pocket panels to form walls. Native Shore Pines with a dwarfed growth habit shelter the lower level with privacy. On the upper level, the experience is one of suspension as one’s feet are just slightly above the treeline. The second living area combines a 295 square-foot office and bathroom with a garage below. Circulation from the second floor of either building can be observed from the opposite side, connecting the two upper levels that form the top edges of the U-shape. A hybrid copper rooftop, formed by cross-pollinating the typology of a shed and dormer roof, forms an origami-joined ceiling in the office area. At ground level, a 45-foot long covered walkway sided in horizontal slats forms the base of the U-shape, while creating visual privacy for the courtyard and the lower level living areas. The landscaped courtyard fuses building with walkway, creating focus on where interior and exterior spaces merge. At night, the residence appears as a lantern, and the central courtyard is its hearth.
A consistency of materiality moves from exterior to interior. Limestone on the exterior walkway is continued on the floors of the lower level in the main building. Horizontal cedar slats from the covered walkway are used indoors on walls to hide door and closet openings. Hemlock was used for its vibrant striping character. Marble travertine, crosscut to create a horizontal striping, was used on the fireplace and in the bathroom.