After house hunting for a near-retirement move, the homeowners realized they cherished their long-time location and extensive backyard shade garden under formidable oaks. The house already offered compact one-level living, it just needed a comfortable interior space to enjoy the garden year-round for years to come.
Existing conditions informed the addition’s form: preserving the office’s backyard view, keeping the outdoor kitchen in place, shielding a nearby neighbor’s views, and allowing morning light to enter over the existing house through new high windows. A prow-shaped form emerged, wrapped in generous built-in seating that offers a sheltered place to read while immersed in the garden’s greenness. Built-in shelves, inspired by the homeowner’s pottery collection, provide well-lit display space.
Material choices echo the site’s oaks. The interior is lined with one material: clear rift sawn white oak with a natural clear matte finish. The adjacent existing red oak slat flooring integrates seamlessly after refinishing. Outside, the roof and exterior are clad in unfinished cedar shakes, left to weather naturally, evoking tree bark. Custom copper window shrouds, rain-chain scupper and deck planter will patina over time, mirroring hues of the pottery collection, further tying the addition to the owners’ established lives on this site.
