Bentonville
We were approached by a professional couple living in Washington DC to design a house for them and their young children. They had just purchased a rural site in western Virginia, overlooking the Blueridge Mountains, and were looking to build a holiday home away for weekend and summertime escapes from the city.
It had always been a dream of the clients – with an avid interest in architecture – to have their own home designed.
The house is a single-storey house perched on top of the hill.
The house is L-shaped in plan which offers several advantages as a response to the brief. The main functions of the house face south, with kitchen, dining, and living room occupying the centre of the plan, and the master bedroom at the western end; this maximises the view of the spectacular sunset over the Blueridge Mountains. At the eastern end of the southern façade, there is a large covered outdoor living area. This also allows an open view east, which was an important factor for the client, as a place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee seeing the sun peek over the mountains.
The other wing facing east contain additional children’s bedroom and a billiards room.
A service element containing bathrooms, store, plantroom etc. wraps the inside of the L-shape offering a much more closed façade. These elevations are finished mainly in white brick, but with areas of American White Oak.
Oak is used throughout for the interiors, along with robust materials such as a polished concrete floor, and some exposed brickwork.
The house is slightly raised off the ground to allow the landscaping to run up to the house, ensuring a setting that feels natural and not overworked.
The house started on site in 2021 and is due to complete early 2023.
- Location − Virginia, USA
- Visualisation − nu.ma
