A Cliffside Cabin Overlooking a Lake

Part of what we're always after is a bit of minimalism, keeping things really simple but at the same time comfortable. So we thought about this project from the start as a way to decompress from the city. So we're pretty high above the Swift Reservoir in southwest Washington. What's important for our clients, they needed this place as a retreat, totally immersed in nature. You're on the sloping site, so when you enter you're coming from below and rising up into this big open living space that has a big sliding door to gather outside, get great views of the reservoir down below. This site does have a handful of challenges. We have a cliff basically on two sides, we have mountain views, we have solar panels that we needed to incorporate, and zoning setbacks on the other side. So we were kind of hemmed in. The structure of the cabin is really simple. You see this repeating glulam every four feet. So there are a lot of parts of the building that step out from each other, so there's a very deep roof overhang protecting the windows and all the openings and the doors from the rain and from the snow. The primary bedroom wing is a bit separated from the rest of the house. They like to entertain and feels like a warm inviting place. Tile on the stone and the wood on the ceiling. Shosubi bond charred wood on the interior and the exterior. So you get this variation in texture and that to me is what makes a cabin. A cabin is lots of wood as a part of the interior finished structure. And it's become our specialty to design for a single family out in the country.