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ABOVE AND FACING PAGE: Our
client's desire was to build a small weekend house on an open clearing of a heavily wooded site with southern views overlooking the
Berkshire Hills. In the spirit of a Japanese kimono, this 1200-sqare-foot house is conceived as a single sweeping volumetric "sheet" enclosure that wraps and folds into
itself to form and define two major interior spaces. The primary interior space is used for living, dining and study. An extended closed-in porch like aperture,
analogous to an engawa or "in-between space" found in traditional Japanese architecture, extends off the main space to frame the primary view and create a
transition zone between inside and outside. The secondary space serves as a master bedroom suite with floor to ceiling glass on both sides again blurring the
distinction between interior and exterior. A concrete plinth elevates the house slightly above landscape on the seven-acre site increasing the sense of lightness often
found in Oriental design. The house is designed to be relatively inexpensive both in construction and maintenance, and to have the compactness and interior
sparseness akin to traditional Japanese architecture to serve as a peaceful retreat from busy city life. As much of the site as possible has been left untouched and
restored for the growth of natural wildflowers, which dominate the surrounding landscape in the summer.
Photographs by Tony Morgan
