Peter and Annette owned eight partially wooded acres on an island
in the Pacific Northwest. The land sloped gently to the south
and east where two meadows had been carved out of second growth
fir and alder. They planned to raise sheep and llamas on the
property. Except for a small garden near the house, they wanted
to leave the landscape as natural as possible. They thought
they would need a home of about 3,000 sq. ft. and a garage that
would double as a workshop for Peter. |
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They would also need two small barns to shelter the animals and
store wool. Before our first design meeting we discussed construction
costs and determined that their budget was adequate for the scope
of their project.
Like most clients, Peter and Annette arrived for their first design conference
with books and magazines. Many of the pictures they tagged illustrated
Japanese rooms; one with shoji screens drawn back to reveal a garden
framed by a sweeping roof and its supporting columns, another showed
a network of heavy beams including some naturally curved timbers.
Annette was enchanted by the serenity of these rooms. Peter admired
the sophisticated joinery required to connect the timbers. They
knew they did not want to re-create a traditional Japanese house.
Their home needed to function as a farmhouse - sturdy and easy to
clean. But, they hoped the house could capture the serene quality
and the open feeling of the rooms they admired
As our discussion moved from design philosophy to specific requirements,
we learned that their basic needs for living areas included; a formal
living/dining room for family holidays, an informal open area combining
the kitchen and family room, two separate sleeping areas, a master
bedroom suite with a large walk-in closet and bath, a studio for
Annette's fiber art, a place for Peter's orchids, lots of shelves
for books and wall space for art.
The site chosen for the house was a nearly level meadow encircled
by clusters of trees. We envisioned a house that would follow the
circular pattern of the trees with rooms linked to together around
a courtyard garden. |
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Because the temperate climates of the Pacific Northwest and Japan are similar,
it seemed likely that traditional Japanese architectural forms include
design solutions would be useful. Low pitched roofs to shed rain,
broad eaves to protect wide expanses of windows and doors and verandas
that bridge indoor and outdoor spaces are all features that work well
in the mild Northwest climate
We knew that if we wanted to borrow from the Japanese tradition, which is based on a modular system of measure, we would have to approach the design systematically. We decided to organize the floor plan on a 4' module. Dimensions of 4', 8', and 12' nicely accommodate structural insulated panels and plasterboard. We arranged the designated room areas on a grid and drew sections showing post and rafter locations. Because of the grid, the plan remained cohesive even as rooms changed sizes and shifted positions. |
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| The U shaped plan that finally emerged is composed of three large rectangles and two smaller ones, which help define the outdoor spaces. Rooms are linked together by an interior corridor that bridges the three main zones of the house and also functions as a compact library. A glass wall of sliding doors opens to the kitchen/family room and covered veranda and beyond it, a sweeping view of the courtyard garden. | |
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| The heated concrete floors, treated with transparent stain are durable and easy to clean. The well-insulated house maintains a constant temperature year-round even with a large number of windows, doors and skylights. The Douglas fir frame was cut from recycled wood. The dry timbers are exposed on the exterior of the house with structural insulated panels forming the infill between the timbers. We colored the latex stucco dark gray with a rather greenish cast, a color we hoped would help the house recede into the Northwest landscape. Annette says she enjoyed the process of designing and building her timber frame house so much she would consider building another one some day. | |
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