This project is located on a rural site on Whidbey Island. A local family wants to make a new home and retreat in their own family farm. Since the site is facing the farmland, the architect make a modest and humble house in honor of the farmland. The design of the house is a combination of both retreat and part-time residence with strong local root, so it can be used from generation to generation. The flexible and durable design create a space for summer BBQ, fishing and even a family gathering.
The goals that the clients want is a comfortable house for two that can accommodate up to 20 people. That is why, the architect build a fur-bedroom and a bunkhouse for other family members and guests. The house is divided into discrete, modesty sized volumes that blend well with those large Douglas Fir trees, native shrubs and ferns. The architect choose a stacked local Basalt stone as a wall to organize the volume. It is subtly defines the perimeter of the courtyard. As the result, the courtyard is linked (both visually and physically) between the different volumes, providing access and connection, but offering separation and retreat when desired.
To entering the site, a rustic gravel is the main materials as the pathways. At the client’s request, the architect trying as best as they can not to damage the nature over construction expediency. The small, stored trefoils are carefully stored on site. And also, it is used as wood for agriculture, cattle fencing, and firewood: new fireplaces and fire pits at the edge of the meadow.
