< Private - Field House
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Location - Ellington, Wisconsin, USA


Akin to many constructed objects in the agrarian landscape, such as neighboring silos, the 5,000 square foot house is a single box clad in a zinc galvanized metal skin.  Taking cues from an old farm nearby, this simple form sets its back against an existing mature tree line at the upper northwest corner of the site to buffer the harsh and predominantly northwest winter winds.  In turn, the south and east walls open up to harness the sun’s warmth in winter months and capture the preserved aspect of the crop field and bird sanctuary beyond.  Its apparent simplicity is articulated by specific moments of experience. These encompass notions of the house as a tunable instrument – to connect to – and – be responsive to – our environment and range from compression-release, to intimate conversations by the warmth of fire, to a morning coffee in the sun, to a gallery of “the art and books of a lifetime”, to a silo ladder that ascends to a secret roof-top observatory whose geometry radiates to the heavens.

 

2006 Record House

Location - Ellington, Wisconsin, USA


Akin to many constructed objects in the agrarian landscape, such as neighboring silos, the 5,000 square foot house is a single box clad in a zinc galvanized metal skin.  Taking cues from an old farm nearby, this simple form sets its back against an existing mature tree line at the upper northwest corner of the site to buffer the harsh and predominantly northwest winter winds.  In turn, the south and east walls open up to harness the sun’s warmth in winter months and capture the preserved aspect of the crop field and bird sanctuary beyond.  Its apparent simplicity is articulated by specific moments of experience. These encompass notions of the house as a tunable instrument – to connect to – and – be responsive to – our environment and range from compression-release, to intimate conversations by the warmth of fire, to a morning coffee in the sun, to a gallery of “the art and books of a lifetime”, to a silo ladder that ascends to a secret roof-top observatory whose geometry radiates to the heavens.

 

2006 Record House

From the client: I love this house and how it makes me feel when I am there.  From the first sunlight in the morning, I can follow the sun’s path during the day until it sets along the western treeline.  I can see and feel when the rain or snow will fall, and watch as the wind blows across the alfalfa or the corn stalks.  The house is both part of the land and is familiar to the landscape as it has the dimensions and the massiveness of a large dairy barn, but is it foreign enough to require a closer, more intimate look.  The clouds reflect across the tinted glass so that the sky never seems to end where the house begins.  Given how the weather is constantly reflected across the metal exterior surfaces, I never know what to expect as I approach the house.  This house is constantly changing with its environment and truly reflects the land and sky, the weather, and the Midwestern seasons.