Exclusive Houses: Sea & Mountain
This remote lot, tucked on the top of a cornice facing the Block Island Strait, is surrounded on three quarters of its perimeter by water, wetlands and woods. The client commissioned a home that would have minimal impact on the environment, enjoy unbeatable panoramic views and offer all the comfort proper to a second home. Each space was carefully examined with respect to the effects of the sun and wind, as well as the views, and the house was conceived as a lens that had to continually frame and highlight even the most subtle changes in the environment.
The two volumes that make up the house, arranged in an L-shape, fulfill different functions: one contains the communal areas and the other the private ones. In the former case, the upper floor holds the kitchen, dining room and lounge, complemented by a terrace. This part of the house is constructed as an overhang supported by pillars and offers a splendid panoramic view of the surrounding landscape through the large windows that make up the perimeter to the north and northeast. The lower floor comprises the sitting room and an additional outdoor lounge area, marked off and shielded by the top floor, as well as a swimming pool with a solarium. The two levels of the other volume boast four bedrooms endowed with magnificent views of the strait.
The dominant material, both indoors and outdoors, is wood, and its warmth provides a contrast with the coldness of the beams and pillars in the daytime areas. The scarcity and asymmetry of the openings on the façade with the entrance are compensated by the transparency of the perimeter, which projects toward the sea and makes the house almost invisible from the beach, while also offering its occupants extraordinary views.
The two volumes that make up the house, arranged in an L-shape, fulfill different functions: one contains the communal areas and the other the private ones. In the former case, the upper floor holds the kitchen, dining room and lounge, complemented by a terrace. This part of the house is constructed as an overhang supported by pillars and offers a splendid panoramic view of the surrounding landscape through the large windows that make up the perimeter to the north and northeast. The lower floor comprises the sitting room and an additional outdoor lounge area, marked off and shielded by the top floor, as well as a swimming pool with a solarium. The two levels of the other volume boast four bedrooms endowed with magnificent views of the strait.
The dominant material, both indoors and outdoors, is wood, and its warmth provides a contrast with the coldness of the beams and pillars in the daytime areas. The scarcity and asymmetry of the openings on the façade with the entrance are compensated by the transparency of the perimeter, which projects toward the sea and makes the house almost invisible from the beach, while also offering its occupants extraordinary views.