Project Description

The site for this new house lies on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains at an elevation 1200 feet above sea level or approximately 600 ft. above the nearby town of Washington Virginia. The house is set in an acre of cleared land on the 27 acre property which slopes sharply to the southwest. Views from the site are extensive to the south extending as far as the eye can see across the plain below. To the west, north and east the site is sheltered by Marshall Mountain with intermittent views extending up and through the wooded slopes.

The Program

The program called for a new house of approximately 6,000 sq. ft. to contain three bedrooms, a two-story hall, a library, a dining
room/kitchen, an elevator serving basement, first and second floors, a one car garage and assorted service and storage rooms.

The Project

The two stucco towers frame the two-story living space and kitchen/dining room that overlook the view and anchor the house in the surrounding landscape. The house is the organizing element for the landscape design of cleared woodlands and numerous, distinct gardens around it. Its height enables the house to converse with the trees and with the mountain itself. The house isbuilt on the shoulder of the hill with a firm foundation set down on the earth visible in the stone wall of the basement, the surrounding fieldstone walls and the elevated lawn/terrace.
The house faces the view but also looks to the woods and mountain behind, with the intervention of the hearth between the two. It is focused both outwardly to the distant horizon and inwardly into the forest.