Architecture studio Searl Lamaster Howe has used charred cedar and slate to create this holiday home for a Chicago couple. The clients had searched five years across four states to find a site for their weekend home that spoke to them. This retreat was to be everything that their Chicago residence - a lofted space nestled within the attic trusses of a converted church – was not. The loft is in the heart of the bustling Wicker Park neighborhood; they sought serenity and a slower pace. The loft features a highly curated collection of sleek European contemporary furnishings; they were inspired by the idea of a sanctuary with a modern sensibility but also rooted in its place with hand craftsmanship felt on scales big and small. The loft’s views of the downtown skyline are finely calibrated to maintain a sense of privacy in the dense neighborhood; they sought an abundance of transparency and a direct connection to nature.

The entry axis crosses a secondary axis which includes a stairwell on one end and a screen porch and deck on the other. The secondary axis rises up to the top-level primary suite and down to the lower level. The intersecting axes are expressed on the exterior as two contrasting volumes. A three-foot module was used to lay out the house, instilling a sense of overall unity; its regimented ordering stands in contrast to the wilds of the site beyond. Two materials define the exterior – cedar (both untreated and charred) and obsidian lap siding. While a black house in other contexts might be defined by its bold distinctiveness, here it serves as a quiet background to the lush mix of maple, oak, cedar, aspen, and ash trees that envelope the site.

An acute concern for materiality extends to the interior. Naturally clefted black slate floors are a constant, lending a layer of organic texture to the organizing module. The untreated cedar roof overhangs extend directly inside where a warm glow is provided by a series of barely visible suspended light fixtures. Most of the home’s cabinetry, built by local craftsmen, is also untreated cedar. The exceptions to this being the kitchen and master bedroom millwork which is oak dye stained in a deep, deep green. The charred cedar from outside reappears at the main fireplace surround where it is contrasted with hand worked blackened steel. In the three-story stairwell, the ash steps wrap around an ebonized oak screen. The contrast of the stairwell’s white walls to the randomly spaced screen battens was influenced by the character of the site in winter – dark tree trunks amongst the snow. The main windows of the primary bath overlook a small deck and the trees beyond. In its shower a skylight highlights the variated texture and coloring of the handmade tiles that clad its walls.