Working out a what-if mountain house idea, I thought of cabins bumping awkwardly but lovingly into each other, an architectural meet-cute of little houses. One cabin would be just a roof, and act as a dogtrot outdoor porch between the guest cabin and the other cabins. Two sided fireplace. Sit outside and hear the rain. The dogs will want to stay here, and not go back in. We’ll watch the sky clear and the sun reluctantly fall.
Quick 5 minute massing study of jumbled cabins. Entry side.
Massing study of cabins. Private side.
Massing concept model. View from entry drive.
So we have five cabins teaming up to form a house: 1) a garage/storage/art studio/home gym cabin; 2) a two-bed/two bath lockout cabin for guests we love but let’s be honest, we all need some space after that long day on the river; 3) the dogtrot roof cabin: our outdoor living room and year-round connection to the land; 4) the main cabin with a big dining room for intimate feasts, with a kitchen island where we all can sit and pretend to help while pouring that second glass for everyone as she tries to get to the point of her story, and the living space with room to be together again, and the hearth for that quiet conversation by the fire, a wall of glass to trace the flight of the red-tailed hawk teaching her young to hunt, or the storm rolling in across the valley; and lastly 5) the master bedroom cabin, its quiet remove, its horizon-stretched view...
Sketchbook: prophetic note to NOT smooth over the forms…
Front axon sketch. Creeping rationalism.
Rear axon sketch: What’s this going to cost?!
As I forced actual program spaces into my idea, the cabins smoothed together a bit, elongated, becoming perhaps too efficient, losing that first date excitement from the early jumbled study. Vertical cedar siding and standing seam metal roof. Stone chimney. A lap pool would be good. Clerestory lights are needed for that art studio/gym.
Floor plan.
Nothing preventing me to get back to that spirit, though. I thought this would work in the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it would work in Sonoma as well. Took some inspiration from the Northern California lifestyle here: connect to the outdoors, put on no airs, use honest materials, track the path of the sun, plant a garden, invite your friends over. Use architecture to remind them they are loved. But you’ll be sure to tell them as well.
Inspiration: Cabins with interstitial zones between.
Dogtrot breezeway.
Clean composition.
Wood and glass.
Outdoor rooms.
Indoor Outdoor feel.