Short Mountain House | Sanders Pace Architecture

Project Team
Brandon F. Pace, FAIA (Principal-in-Charge)
John L. Sanders, FAIA
Michael A. Davis, AIA
Cameron S. Bolin

Consultants
Haines Structural Group (Structural)
Overhill Gardens (Landscape)
PerfectWater (Rainwater Harvesting)

General Contractor
Richardson Construction

Photography
Keith Isaacs Photo

This project is located on a ridge in Maryville, Tennessee with panoramic views to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Designed for a couple with an extended out of town family, the house is divided into three distinct pavilions. These allow the house to be compartmentalized to efficiently accommodate the needs of the owners while allowing for the ability to expand into the adjacent pavilion during visits by children and grandchildren. The layout of the three pavilions or organized in a way which allows for clear sitelines into the park and while defining a series of unique exterior spaces surrounding the house. The pavilions are joined by entry connectors designed as bridges spanning between the pavilions.

While the simple gable forms recall the vernacular structures of the area, the pitch was selected based on the forms of traditional Japanese architecture. A restrained material palette of stone veneer, wood siding, and standing seam metal roofing is utilized to help the house blend in with its surroundings. Two wood sidings are used on the house. The primary siding is Accoya with a brushed shou sugi ban finish. This traditional Japanese treatment process is used to preserve the wood by charring it. The heavily-charred surface of the board makes the wood fire retardant as well as resistant to rot, insects and decay. A secondary siding material is used in inset “engawa” spaces. A defining feature of the traditional Japanese house, the engawa is a covered strip of decking, often finished in wood, which runs along the periphery of the house acting as a transition between the house and the garden. Each of the pavilions incorporates individual engawa spaces at the transition from interior to exterior spaces. These covered porches also help control solar heat gain by providing overhangs at the large sliding glass doors featured at the engawas.