— Et Cetera
houses, in design, waterfront

Design update: Griffin Island House in Wellfleet

We are really excited about a new beach house we are designing for a magnificent waterfront property on Cape Cod Bay in Wellfleet. On Monday I had the pleasure of spending a full day with our clients, basking in the 70 degree sunshine and exploring the four acre site from end to end with three phenomenally talented prospective landscape architects.  We discussed ways to integrate the design of house and land, as well as opportunities for enhancing the diverse site features -- hilly and thick with gnarled pines on one side, more open and low-scaled with beach plum, bayberry, and beach grasses on the other. We can’t wait to start collaborating with the landscape design team and seeing how things develop. Yes, we’ll keep you posted.

- Will Ruhl

 

Looking north towards the high point of the coastal bank, into a bayberry clearing where we plan to insert the new house. Given the complexities of building on sand, we no doubt will have to move and / or remove some trees, but the goal in the end will be to have the woods grow back up tight to the house on the inland side, and for the bayberry, beach plums, and beach grasses to grow up tight to the house on the Bay side.
Looking north towards the high point of the coastal bank, into a bayberry clearing where we plan to insert the new house. Given the complexities of building on sand, we no doubt will have to move and / or remove some trees, but the goal in the end will be to have the woods grow back up tight to the house on the inland side, and for the bayberry, beach plums, and beach grasses to grow up tight to the house on the Bay side.
The new master suite (including a huge, skylit and windowed shower) will have this stunning view along the coastal bank, with the inner Cape visible along the horizon. The site has an existing house high on the bank, but it is in terrible disrepair and threatened by erosion and sand inundation; it will be removed and its site will be re-naturalized. The new house will be much more discreet in terms of its siting, built as gently as possible into the hill rather than dominating the site.
The new master suite (including a huge, skylit and windowed shower) will have this stunning view along the coastal bank, with the inner Cape visible along the horizon. The site has an existing house high on the bank, but it is in terrible disrepair and threatened by erosion and sand inundation; it will be removed and its site will be re-naturalized. The new house will be much more discreet in terms of its siting, built as gently as possible into the hill rather than dominating the site.
The inland side of the house is composed of shifting and curving volumes, appearing almost to be sliding off of the coastal bank which extends up and to the right in this digital image. At right is the main house and on the left is a small art studio with open air storage below; a raised deck bridges the gap between the two, and leads to paths to the beach.
The inland side of the house is composed of shifting and curving volumes, appearing almost to be sliding off of the coastal bank which extends up and to the right in this digital image. At right is the main house and on the left is a small art studio with open air storage below; a raised deck bridges the gap between the two, and leads to paths to the beach.
On the Bay side, the house is virtually all glass, with an asymmetrically curved planar roof capping the living /dining / screened porch volume. Materials are currently proposed as cedar shingles and horizontal siding with copper at the curved roof, fireplace surround, and bathrooms.
On the Bay side, the house is virtually all glass, with an asymmetrically curved planar roof capping the living /dining / screened porch volume. Materials are currently proposed as cedar shingles and horizontal siding with copper at the curved roof, fireplace surround, and bathrooms.