June 18, 2020

4 Sylvan Sites That are Woodsy Inside and Out

Four rural idylls, from New Zealand to New York, are woodsy indoors and out.

1. Shelter Island Residence by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Photography by Peter Aaron/Otto.

A city chef and his partner decamp to a weekender sited in a deciduous forest beside a tidal lagoon. The roofline of the intersecting volumes, in copper-accented Western red cedar, rises toward the waterfront, allowing the guest bedrooms and master suite to take advantage of sweeping Peconic Bay panoramas. 

Photography by Peter Aaron/Otto.
Photography by Peter Aaron/Otto.
Photography by Peter Aaron/Otto.
Photography by Peter Aaron/Otto.

2. Sheffield, Massachusetts Residence by Of Possible Architectures

Photography by Rory Gardiner/Photofoyer.

This contemporary expression of rural American architecture nods to modernist flat-roof pavilions like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. Every window and door is a floor-to-ceiling picture frame of the grounds—encompassing an apple orchard and wetland ravine—with motorized privacy shades and insect screens concealed on the bleached-cedar exterior.

Photography by Rory Gardiner/Photofoyer.
Photography by Rory Gardiner/Photofoyer.
Photography by Rory Gardiner/Photofoyer.

3. Queenstown, New Zealand Residence by Vaughn McQuarrie

Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.

Eschewing the ubiquitous glass-box aesthetic, this angular abode—its shape alluding to improvised “bivvy” shelters, craggy glaciers, and
the region’s bygone mining huts—balances cocooning spaces enveloped
in band-sawn pine plywood with stellar views of Lake Wakatipu through peekaboo slot windows. 

Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.
Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.
Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.
Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.
Photography by Simon Devitt/Photofoyer.

4. Beskydy Mountains, Czech Republic Residence by 
Pavel Mícek Architects

In a remote part of the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic exists a boxy concrete shell, partially burrowed into the earth and topped by a larch A-frame. Over time, the wood will patinate to a silver-gray while the concrete will become mossy—processes serving to further embed the house in its surroundings. 

Photography by Jakub Skokan and Martin Tuma/BoysPlayNice.
Photography by Jakub Skokan and Martin Tuma/BoysPlayNice.
Photography by Jakub Skokan and Martin Tuma/BoysPlayNice.

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