With views to the east, we oriented the one-level home north-south, as close to the water as topography allowed. The owners asked for a small pool and a large workshop with the proviso that neither should impact views of the marsh. We responded by creating a courtyard, defined by the workshop on one side and the home on the other, each with elongated overhangs that create shelter and lend definition to this outdoor room. The courtyard is the center of three distinct outdoor zones and contains a salt-chlorinated pool and a kitchen garden. On the marsh side we foregrounded nature by excluding all man-made improvements besides short decks off the bedrooms. On the approach side we provided double doors that open from the workshop to a large covered area where big projects can spill outside while taking in the view of the garden and owner-built Pétanque court.
Inside and out, we selected materials that would age as gracefully as the owners. We built an aesthetic around long-life materials that need no finishing and therefore no re-finishing. The exterior is clad in unstained cedar, installed as an open-jointed rain screen which prolongs its life by allowing it to dry. We created renderings simulating the natural and irregular greying of wood to help the owners visualize their property over time. The roof is painted aluminum with standing seams that can carry photovoltaic panels without the need to drill holes in the surface of the roof. Exterior decking, including the pool surround, is Garapa, a dense, rot resistant wood needing no stain or paint. Interior floors are poured concrete with radiant heat except in the loft where red oak flooring was locally milled from the trees felled during construction.
Life inside centers around the great room whose window wall faces the marsh, perched at the point where grade drops precipitously. To foreground flora and fauna we painted the window frames black and limited decks to either side. The rest of the room is wrapped with custom millwork whose function differs from wall to wall, but with similar details and materials to unify the space. The millwork on the south conceals a pantry and powder room. A generous island was sized to make use of a large slab of brushed white granite and marks the transition from dining to cooking space, which looks out onto the kitchen garden through a ribbon window. During construction the clients bought a chainsaw and taught themselves to cut and split wood, making use of all the trees felled to make way for the house. We integrated a clean burning firebox into the north wall and designed a truss-like surround that was fabricated in plate steel by a local artist.
The principal wing has two equal sized suites, laid out to be wheelchair accessible including zero-threshold showers. Sleeping rooms were kept intentionally modest in size but open to marsh facing decks. The north wing is the only part of the home with stairs and was designed to accommodate a live-in caregiver should the need arise. A half-flight of stairs up brings you to an exercise loft and a half flight down leads to a home office with small full bath, imagined as a future dwelling unit for a caregiver or extra guests.
Sustainability and thermal comfort were a big part of the design process and budget. A photovoltaic array covers the entire workshop roof, its output calculated to exceed the home’s demand and return energy back to the grid. The house was designed to use no fossil fuel but does have a propane tank as backup. Runoff from all roofs is collected to a buried cistern and is used for irrigation. Walls and ceilings each have three layers of insulation, designed to control the transfer of sound, moisture and heat, and exceed energy code requirements.
Architect: GRT Architects – https://www.grtarchitects.com/
Location: Guilford, Connecticut, United States
Completed: 2020
Photography: Michael Vahrenwald/ESTO – http://esto.com/vahrenwald
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