Winterview Residence in Hendersonville, North Carolina

The clients’ property is situated along a steeply sloped, heavily wooded ravine in the mountains of North Carolina. They asked us for a modern house that embodied the tactile qualities of the mountains and allowed the beauty of the surrounding landscape to dominate. Requested spaces include an artist’s studio, living room, master and guest suites, a study/library, and a goat barn.

Winterview Residence

• Location: Hendersonville, NC, USA
• Est. completion date: to be determined
• Project team: Frank Harmon, FAIA, Matthew Griffith, AIA

Winterview Residence

Taking our cues from the land, we designed “Winterview,” as the house has been named, as a clearing in the forest and a compound of spaces arranged around a south-facing, central courtyard. The approach is up a narrow mountain road, from which the house will reveal itself as a wood shingled shell covered in moss, barely distinguishable from the land. The entry to the L-shaped house will be a breezeway that separates guest quarters and the main living space — an immediate threshold between forest and clearing.

Winterview Residence Rendering

The wood-shingled roof will hover above a locally harvested stonewall, made from the same rock outcropping on which the house sits. The wall will wrap the L-shaped house and culminate in a great hearth. Large openings on the north wall will frame spectacular views of Mount Pisgah and allow light to filter into the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom. The stonewall will mediate between the built and natural environment and provide a sense of prospect and refuge from within.

Plan

The design of the roof and breezeway takes advantage of local wind patterns and passive ventilation to create a venturi effect. Cool summer breezes will accelerate through the courtyard, house, and breezeway, while the low-slung roof and stone wall will block cold northern winds. The artist studio will be sunken into the southwest corner of the courtyard, providing privacy and views from the house over its sod roof up o the mountainside beyond.

Sections 1

Natural light, contrasting natural materials, and carefully articulated views will all contribute to a design grounded in a primordial connection to the natural environment, giving our clients an invigorating sense of living within nature.

Sections 2

Tags: Hendersonville, North Carolina

Category: House

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