The brief

A retired couple asked for a house on a steep hillside lot that would let them live entirely on one level, with the garden always in view.

The response

The house sits on a natural stone base that steps with the slope. Above it, a long timber volume holds the living spaces and opens fully onto the garden terrace.

Vertical timber fins shade the west façade and give the house its texture, changing from solid to transparent as you walk past.

Materials

Locally quarried andesite, reclaimed ironwood, and lime plaster. The palette was chosen to weather together, not to stay new.