Four Point House
Architect: IN STUDIO
Location: Connecticut
Type: House
Year: 2024
Photographs: David Mitchell
The following description is courtesy of the architects. The primary driver of the house’s design was the four distinct views it frames: a long mountain view to the west, a meadow view to the south, a farm view to the north, and a forest view to the east. With its U-shaped plan, the house forms three walls of a courtyard with the tree-line of the forest forming the fourth.
The exterior is clad in cedar processed in the Shou Sugi Ban method, which chars the wood to protect against fire and the elements and results in a rich black color and scaly texture. Inside, the exposed framing is made of mass timber. The primary suite occupies the south volume of the house, with a long wing of social, entertaining, and dining spaces between it and the guest suite to the north. From inside, the architecture frames moments of the site’s views, such as the short passageway into the kitchen offering a glimpse of the mountains before revealing the entire vista.
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To right-size the house for the couple, the four bedroom guest suite is physically separated from the rest of the spaces and acts as a standalone building. Though connected to the primary residence by the roof (and forming the south wall of the courtyard), the suite has its own entrance and can only be accessed by leaving the main wing. This allows for different scales of inhabitation and energy use: the couple can open the guest suite when hosting or take it offline when they are not.
Natural lighting was a driving principle of the design: the long wing that arrays the main living, dining, and entertaining areas is enclosed in full-height glass, so the most used part of the home is daylit the entire time the sun is up. The rooftop is solar-ready, anticipating that the house will shift to that power source in the near future. The design also preserves 90% of the site area as unbuilt and strengthens the natural ecosystem by establishing a meadow rather than creating a lawn.
Project Details
- Architect: IN STUDIO
- Structural Engineering: Edward Stanley Engineers
- Civil Engineering: David Hughes, P.E., L.S.
- MEP Engineering: Kohler Ronan Consulting Engineers
- Landscape Architecture: Kathryn Herman Design
- Lighting Design: One Lux Studio
- Builder: Prutting & Company Custom Builders
- Photography Credits: David Mitchell
