Currently under construction on the banks of the Westport River, in Westport, MA, is a house we designed for a general contractor and his wife. Reed / Hildebrand is landscape architect and interior design will be by Diane Cramphin of Oblio Design.
The couple bought a simple 1980's "saltbox" a few years ago, with the dream of knocking the house down and starting over with a fresh, modern design. One of the homeowners had grown up in a modern house in Virginia, and wanted to have a low-slung house that opened up to its beautiful, river-side setting. They called for removing the existing three story house and replacing it with a single story house that would include a large, open living / dining / cooking space that would open through a Nana Wall door to a large living / dining screened porch. Also on the main floor will be a master suite and an office that could double as a guest bedroom. Because the house is built on a hill, the main floor will be built on top of the existing foundation, and the lower level will include two guest bedrooms and a family room, as well as storage below the screened porch.
The design parti is two bars shifting past each other, with the space between the two bars being the main circulation zone. The bar on the river side will be taller and longer than the inland bar, and is defined by a ten foot high by eighty-four foot long wall of glass and screens, defined within a continuous frame; the river bar "floats" above the base, which is reconfigured as a landscape feature covered with vines. The inland bar is sheathed in shingles with deeply inset windows asymmetrically organized based on practical needs for light and cross ventilation. Construction is expected to be completed in June, 2011, but we’ll keep you posted on progress in this blog.
