The original house was built in 1966 as a small weekend retreat.  Due to recent increased use the Owner gave us the task of both renovation and expansion.  The client desired layers of privacy in the house for a variety of activities including workout, reading, and gardening.  Aesthetically, the program called for a sensitive response to a unique existing structural mass, yet incorporate the new into a unified whole with the existing.  The three new spaces are a greenhouse, great room, and guesthouse.

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The new additions counterbalance the existing structure, which ties to the ground on the north side and floats above the ground to the south.  Our solution extends north and burrows into the ground with stonewalls and ledges.  The building forms mimic the existing mass and differ in their structural response.  In response to the tent post structure of the original design, we chose solutions that help define each space as distinctly separate spaces.  We used ring beams to support the pyramidal roof structure in the great room.  The guesthouse uses steel tension ties. The new massings are similar to the existing in the large volume of interior space created.