Located northwest of Seattle on the Kitsap Peninsula a few blocks up from a small beach town, this residence takes its place on a cherished piece of family property. On a secluded wooded site, the new structure grounds itself to the earth with its approach to material and form. The project involved a close collaboration with friends and makers in the local community, exploring a level of craft made possible from relationships forged over years of making work together. 

The program for the house was simple; 3-bedroom / 2-bath house with space for playing music and drawing for a musician and an architect. The house at 1,700 square feet is modest in size yet reaches into the landscape with a sheltering roof and screen walls to create usable outdoor spaces on all sides. The site offers unique access to the sky and light for this heavily wooded part of the Kitsap Peninsula. 

The roof becomes an additional level for more occupiable outdoor space and areas for an elevated herb garden. The house was structured to support a second story along the north section if future expansion is needed. Areas of the site were thoughtfully zoned and the placement of the structure carefully considered to maximize space for growing vegetables, a future shop/guest house, firepit gatherings, and star-gazing from the roof terrace.

The design concept evolved out of a solid rectangular volume stretched across the site in a typical one-story “rambler” style. The volume was carved away to create gathering spaces, sliced through to open axial views, and punctured and perforated to let in light and provide natural ventilation while maintaining privacy where needed.