COURTYARD HOUSE

RESIDENTIAL

Location Willamette, Oregon, US
Program Private residence
Area 277 m² / 2,981 ft²
Status Completed 2013
Value  $635,000

Relocating from Eugene, Oregon to a more remote site overlooking protected wetlands, the clients realized the home itself, through innovative architecture, should become a destination, drawing out-of-town family and friends to visit. It was crucial the new home not only maintain, but also cultivate a connection to both nature and community.

RESOLVE TENSIONS BETWEEN HARMONIOUSLY “AGEING IN PLACE” WITH NATURE WHILE MAINTAINING AN URBAN DESIRE FOR COMMUNITY.

BURROWING THE HOUSE INTO THE LAND

On the outskirts of a small town known for antique stores and historic homes, the project respects its context: burrowing the house into the land so that it remains unseen from the main street. To the west and north, this strategy minimizes the visual and acoustic connections between adjacent structures and increases thermal insulation.  Spanning a terrace escarpment, however, the structure is only partially underground. To the east, the concrete floor slab cantilevers over the hillside, and through floor-to-ceiling windows, frames expansive views of the wild river and wetlands below.

FRAMING THE VIEWS

Anticipating the need for a walker or wheelchair, the clients sold their previous home that divided daily life into rooms isolated by hallways across multiple floors. The clients desired a new way of life organized on a single level by a more open and flexible plan.

Environmentally and economically conscious, the couple would not accept an over-scaled home with bedrooms that remained unoccupied throughout most of the year. Here, every living space doubles as a bedroom as to welcome as few as two or as many as eight overnight guests with grace and intention. 

Team
Andrew Heid, Jack Hogan, Christopher Purpura, Noa Peer
Collaborators
WBS Construction Inc., Madden & Baughman Engineering, Inc., Aurora Landscape

Photography
Iwan Baan, Michael Weber
Distinctions
Highest Honor Award for 2017 from Boston Society of Architects / AIA New York Housing Award.