A residence designed for informal gathering and relaxation on a quiet cove near Acadia National Park. Conceived of as a compound of connected gathering spaces with adjacent private retreat spaces. The "village" of structures is designed to open and close seasonally with large sliding barn doors. These also modulate light, air and views into and out of the cottages.

Carefully positioned to take advantage of the rich variety of views and sloping topography, the cottages have integral terraces and retaining walls to negotiate the undulating land-form. One arrives at the high point of the site and the long barn axis and navigates between the cottages to the main entrance. Once inside, the home deliberately reveals unique views to the ocean, mountains and surrounding spruce forest.

Published: Maine Home + Design June 2019

Photography: Trent Bell (unless noted otherwise)

AIA Honor Award, BSLA Merit Award, Design Excellence Citation, People's Choice Award, Honor Award NAWDA

This award-winning design marries the familiar with the unexpected in an unusual site at the edge of a harsh sea environment. Three simple cottages linked by a series of decks make up this summer compound which extends over the site of an existing condemned structure.  Inspired by local fishing shacks and wharf buildings dotting the coast of Maine, this retreat interweaves large glazed openings with simple taut-skinned New England shingled cottages. This skin is incised to open views to the sea beyond and relies on light steel framing and thin braces to preserve the simple forms eroded toward sweeping views.

The main ‘wharf’ cottage extends over the tidal salt pond below with a structural steel frame anchored to the pond’s granite basin and contains communal living spaces: kitchen, dining, and living rooms. Linking interior space to the views beyond is a cantilevered deck which appears to float above the water. The flanking cottages contain private sleeping quarters and frame views to the surrounding moss covered forest.

Photos: Tom Crane Photography/Eric Reinholdt

The building is comprised of three volumes, supported by a heavy timber frame, and set upon a terraced ground plane that closely follows the existing topography.  Linking the volumes, the circulation path is highlighted by large cuts in the skin of the building.  These cuts are infilled with a wood framed curtainwall of glass offset from the syncopated structural grid.  Orienting the sheds on an east-west axis provided us with a large south flank to gather daylight.   It also served as a means of concealing views to a grouping of buildings to the north.  It was our intent to focus views to the varying textures, light conditions and plant materials native to the site while moving back and forth between programmatic components.  The movement up and down, through smaller then larger volumes, through light then dark is a richly varied experience meant to mimic the natural surroundings.

Forces of weathering play a prominent role in determining the building palette and the decision to expose the structural system so plainly.  The textured surface and color of the shingles closely resembles the bark of trees in the northern woods and the rich, warm tones of the exposed timber frame, its heartwood.  The bronze of the weathering copper references the site’s numerous oaks.  Wearing deepening patinas with each passing year, the house becomes more and more a part of the surrounding environment.

Photos: Brian Vanden Brink / Rob Karosis / Eric Reinholdt

**See our Shop for downloadable plans of this design**

Recently featured in the New Small House (Taunton Press 2015) and a 'Dwell Houses We Love' finalist, our modern longhouse was inspired by the Native American Longhouse. Its simple form and low volume shelters and opens views to the surrounding forest. Historically, Longhouses sheltered 20 or more families under one large roof, which spanned 18’ in width by 80’ in length.  The singular open space allowed for efficient heating and communal gathering.  Our design is a study in simplicity of form using a modern material palette and reductive detailing.  Simple, affordable and well designed using readily available durable materials.

Economy informed almost every decision in our design, beginning with the simplest and perhaps most iconic building form, the gable.  We were drawn to the fallen birches in the surrounding forest as well as the Native American longhouse within which a singular space made for efficient heating and communal gathering.  Our thought was to make everything plain and accessible, easily changed, removed, retooled, tattooed, fixed, and added to. One room wide, the plan invites daylight and breezes with a central living, dining, and cooking space flanked by private sleeping areas on either end.  A private core in the center of the building houses storage, laundry and bathing functions allowing a continuous hallway to wrap the perimeter of the building…which doubles as a race track for our two young boys.

On the boards, Fall 2022. Inspired by Semper’s four elements of architecture: hearth, enclosure, roof, and mound (earth) these primitive structures are located to take advantage of a diverse coastal site with changeable apertures, capturing views to the sky, the sea, the forest and ground. Each building is functionally and materially distinct offering a diverse experience and unique perspectives to the surrounding environment.

Our new series of simple, modern home plans draws inspiration from the classic farmstead. Linked outbuildings were common in farms which were added to over time as the needs of the farm changed. Main houses were connected to barns with structures termed ‘little houses’ and ‘back houses’. The buildings were each carefully positioned in the landscape and near each other so as to shelter against the local prevailing winds, to collect sunlight, and temper the climate surrounding their everyday chores.

Each pod in this series has a distinct function: living, sleeping, specialty and service pods. Each is connected with a flat roofed hallway element. Every pod is further subdivided using a basic set of cabinetry elements, some fixed and some are movable. The advantage this separation offers is two-fold. First, it promotes privacy and the feeling of a much larger footprint than the small structure actually consumes. Second, it allows each pod to be carefully sited and moved to adapt to different sites. Smaller modules allow for a more granular site response.