Photographer: Jay Goodrich This 2800 sf single-family home was completed in 2009. The clients desired an intimate, yet dynamic family residence that reflected the beauty of the site and the lifestyle of the San Juan Islands. The house was built to be both a place to gather for large dinners with friends and family as well as a cozy home for the couple when they are there alone. The project is located on a stunning, but cripplingly-restricted site overlooking Griffin Bay on San Juan Island. The most practical area to build was exactly where three beautiful old growth trees had already chosen to live. A prior architect, in a prior design, had proposed chopping them down and building right in the middle of the site. From our perspective, the trees were an important essence of the site and respectfully had to be preserved. As a result we squeezed the programmatic requirements, kept the clients on a square foot restriction and pressed tight against property setbacks. The delineate concept is a stone wall that sweeps from the parking to the entry, through the house and out the other side, terminating in a hook that nestles the master shower. This is the symbolic and functional shield between the public road and the private living spaces of the home owners. All the primary living spaces and the master suite are on the water side, the remaining rooms are tucked into the hill on the road side of the wall. Off-setting the solid massing of the stone walls is a pavilion which grabs the views and the light to the south, east and west. Built in a position to be hammered by the winter storms the pavilion, while light and airy in appearance and feeling, is constructed of glass, steel, stout wood timbers and doors with a stone roof and a slate floor. The glass pavilion is anchored by two concrete panel chimneys; the windows are steel framed and the exterior skin is of powder coated steel sheathing.

Vance Fox Photography

Joe Fletcher

Marion Brenner

Perched on a bluff overlooking Block Island Sound, the property is a flag lot at the edge of a new subdivision, bordered on three sides by water, wetlands, and woods. The client asked us to design a house with a minimal impact on the pristine landscape, maximum exposure to the views and all the amenities of a year round vacation home. The basic requirements of each space were considered integrally with the effects of sunlight, breezes and views. The house was conceived as a lens, continually framing and magnifying the subtle changes in the surrounding environment.

The indoor pool area opens up to the outdoor patio for year round swimming in the cold Toronto climate. An aquarium is nestled next to the interior pool wall. Photo: Tom Arban

A view of remodeled home from below shows the added floor with generous interior spaces and large windows taking advantage of the Puget sound views. The existing lower floor stone veneer and window openings were retained. photo: Alex Hayden

A full-sized roof deck has a built-in barbecue and fireplace and allows for various entertaining configurations to take advantage of the stunning sunset and white water views. (Photo: Matthew Millman)

Whangapoua Beach House on the Coromandel Peninsula

An urban setting in the very desirable M-Streets / Greenland Hills section of Dallas, a circa 1920's cottage was updated to a more modern feel, but needed a landscape to fit. Patrick L. Boyd-Lloyd, APLD, a designer with David Rolston Landscape Architects, worked with the clients to bring some privacy to the front of the house, featuring a wall of windows, and bridge the back of the house to the pool, which is accessed across the driveway. The covered structure on the back replaced an old wood deck, and is anchored by the intimate outdoor fireplace. To keep the north facing space from feeling dark and claustrophobic, skylights were added to the standing seem metal roof. The concrete driveway was broken up with Oklahoma Flagstone and brick to create more entertaining space and connect the pool with the house. An pile of rocks that was an old fountain for the pool was replaced with Oklahoma ledge-stone and scuppers for a more timeless, updated look. The rich plant pallet is kept to the understated side to act as a simple backdrop, with accents of color popping out. Texture is added with Agaves, Yuccas, and variegated Ginger.

Photograph by Art Gray

WA Design