The Oliver/Fox residence was a home and shop that was designed for a young professional couple, he a furniture designer/maker, she in the Health care services, and their two young daughters.

I was originally asked to design a home for them prior to their having a lot to build on, and, they had a small window of opportunity to build once they found a lot, so I proposed that without knowing where the lot was or what the nature of the lot would be, I could begin to develop a design, to meet their time constraints, but they would have to make sure that their lot was basically a level lot with a Southeastern or Southern exposure for the back of the home. The design was already far along by the time they found a 5 acre parcel of land which they had fallen in love with and knew this was where they wanted to build their future home.

Thankfully, they had followed my directions regarding the type of lot they should look for, and it was only necessary to make a few minor changes to the design to adjust to the particulars of their lot.

The site was mostly wooded, with a slight rise beginning from the street access of the site, but about 200’ into the site there was a section of land, that was both free of trees, level and faced to the Southeast with ample views across an open horse pasture.

I suggested placing the house at this juxtaposition between the woods and the field so that they could take advantage of the southern sun for solar heating in winter, and make use of the the woods to the Southwest and West to aid in cooling from the late day summer sun. This also provided greater protection from the street and nice unobstructed views across the horse pasture.

Early on in the design process, we settled on making the home a two story structure to keep the footprint of the two buildings as small as possible, given the spatial requirements for both the house and the shop. My clients had been city dwellers without a garage and although their new site was in the country, they did not want to have a Garage and were concerned it would only begin to make their site too cramped with buildings.

My clients had asked for a building that felt integrated with the site and wasn’t just another ‘Box’ plunked down in the land. Originally, they wanted to be able to have the roof come down low so they could climb up on it easily for maintenance, and a large front porch to sit out on to greet their neighbors. However, once we determined the best location for the structures, the house was too far off the road, and a front porch didn’t make sense anymore, and, because we needed to utilize a two story design for the home to keep costs under control, a low roof was not easily accomplished, but the building was shaped to allow for various elements, like the Entry and Kitchen, to be one story and more easily accessed. A unique sectional expression for the main volume of the house was introduced that allowed the roof to come down to the first level on the backside of the home without compromising the needed volumes on the second floor.

The main Living space, which is accessed from the Entry/Powder room annex, includes a custom ‘Stone’ fireplace, a Dining Atrium, and a sunken Living area that has direct access to an outdoor terrace. The owners are both gourmet cooks, so an ample Kitchen, with an integrated ‘Breakfast Nook’, was included per their desires. There is also a Sewing room, that doubles as a Guest room, and a Mechanical room on the first floor.

The Parent Bedroom/Bath and the two children’s bedrooms, and their Bath, a Laundry and a ‘Free room’ are all located on the upper floor and are interconnected by a generous ‘Reading’ Gallery.