Houzz Tours
New York Houzz: Pattern and Soaring Ceilings in a Mountain Home
The architecture of Louis Kahn inspired these architects to create serenity through mathematical order in a US home
The Catskill region in New York State, USA, is home to the Catskill mountain range, as well as lush forests and many rivers, lakes and dams. “These mountains were a source of inspiration for the painters of the Hudson River school [a 19th-century group of landscape painters known for idealised naturalism] whose motto of ‘discovery, exploration and settlement’ led them to portray the wild and changing beauty of the deciduous forests,” says architect Jesús Donaire. Donaire was in charge of the project alongside his co-founder at Donair Milans Arquitectos, architect María Milans del Bosch. The pair, whose practice is based in Spain, met when they were studying a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia University in New York.
It is hard to imagine a more beautiful environment for a home. Aware of their incursion on the landscape, the architects set themselves the challenge of creating a building that would be sensitive to its surroundings.
It is hard to imagine a more beautiful environment for a home. Aware of their incursion on the landscape, the architects set themselves the challenge of creating a building that would be sensitive to its surroundings.
The timber facade has an iridescent texture, which reflects the changing light and colours of the seasons and times of day. “We used carbonised cedar created using the Japanese shou sugi ban technique, which gives the wood greater resistance to water, fire and insects, with no maintenance,” says Donaire.
This house was first built as a show home, and was then sold to its current owners, a family who moved in during lockdown.
The home has two storeys, with two bedrooms on the ground floor and another two on the first floor arranged in a simple layout. In total, there are four bathrooms of varying sizes, including an ensuite off the main bedroom and a guest bathroom on the ground floor.
The home has two storeys, with two bedrooms on the ground floor and another two on the first floor arranged in a simple layout. In total, there are four bathrooms of varying sizes, including an ensuite off the main bedroom and a guest bathroom on the ground floor.
Instead of a traditional double-pitched roof, the architects decided to split the home into two separate volumes with opposing roof slopes. This allowed for an even taller double-height space in one of the sections, and a more spacious staircase in the other. It also draws a visual connection between the home and the mountains and valley with their gentle slopes.
While the ground floor has a restrained palette, plywood is used overhead, which draws one’s gaze to the immense ceiling height.
While the ground floor has a restrained palette, plywood is used overhead, which draws one’s gaze to the immense ceiling height.
The design also satisfies the architects’ commitment to well-planned sustainability. “Most of the openings are on the east and west sides to provide for cross ventilation, optimal exposure to heat from the sun and protection from the wind, which mainly comes from the north and south,” says Donaire.
The architects went for concrete on the ground floor and wood throughout to avoid problems in the build, as local builders and crews work with these materials almost exclusively.
Browse more beautifully designed staircases to inspire your own
Browse more beautifully designed staircases to inspire your own
The bookshelves in the double-height space, which comprise three shelves in seven sections, are echoed by a corresponding pattern of joinery framing the windows. Two square fixed panes alternate with three thinner vertical panels with sections that can be opened. The design is reminiscent of architect Louis Kahn’s iconic Esherick House, built in 1961 in nearby Philadelphia.
The ceiling beams repeat the pattern of the windows – one, two, one, two, one – highlighting the need for a design that creates order and serenity through pattern and geometry or, in other words, mathematics. In this sense, the design eschews the caprice and clumsiness of post-modern metaphor, with its deliberate misconstruction of architectural context.
The ceiling beams repeat the pattern of the windows – one, two, one, two, one – highlighting the need for a design that creates order and serenity through pattern and geometry or, in other words, mathematics. In this sense, the design eschews the caprice and clumsiness of post-modern metaphor, with its deliberate misconstruction of architectural context.
There are more bookshelves on the other side of the room, next to a work and study area that runs the length of the space under the slope of the roof. Since there are no windows in the western wall, this part of the room relies on light from the double-height central space and the generous windows opposite.
Donaire Milans Arquitectos’ interest in controlled geometry can also be seen in the company’s other projects, perhaps more markedly in the Castilian House Between Old Mud Walls, a rigorous glass and concrete pavilion in Spain, where technical precision is at the service of poetic bareness.
Donaire Milans Arquitectos’ interest in controlled geometry can also be seen in the company’s other projects, perhaps more markedly in the Castilian House Between Old Mud Walls, a rigorous glass and concrete pavilion in Spain, where technical precision is at the service of poetic bareness.
“Wood is used both inside and outside the house. Inside it includes plywood on the ceiling, PSL (parallel strand lumber) in the columns and beams, and solid wood in the joists,” says Donaire.
Similarly, “panels of Viroc, a composite of wood fibres and cement with good thermal inertia, moisture resistance and slight variation in nominal size, are used on the floor of the second storey and all the bathroom and kitchen walls. These are essential characteristics for the proper functioning of the underfloor heating and in the wet areas of the house.”
Similarly, “panels of Viroc, a composite of wood fibres and cement with good thermal inertia, moisture resistance and slight variation in nominal size, are used on the floor of the second storey and all the bathroom and kitchen walls. These are essential characteristics for the proper functioning of the underfloor heating and in the wet areas of the house.”
Like in Kahn’s Esherick House, windows and voids produce spaces such as this one, where the main bedroom wraps around the stairwell.
On a dark, snowy night, only the warm light the home emits hints at the existence of the structure within the trees.
At these times, it’s hard to decide when the home looks at its best: when it catches the light reflecting off the snow, or when it’s surrounded by springtime greenery.
Your turn
Which elements of this home do you love? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Missed our last Houzz Tour? Catch up here with this incredible Paris Houzz: Elegance & Extra Bedrooms for a 70-Square-Metre Home
At these times, it’s hard to decide when the home looks at its best: when it catches the light reflecting off the snow, or when it’s surrounded by springtime greenery.
Your turn
Which elements of this home do you love? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Missed our last Houzz Tour? Catch up here with this incredible Paris Houzz: Elegance & Extra Bedrooms for a 70-Square-Metre Home
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A family
Location: New York State, USA
Size: 205 square metres
Project: Donair Milans Arquitectos
Engineering: Luke Amey, LIA Engineering
The home is nestled in the shade of a dense forest of maples, oaks and birches. It was carefully built in a clearing at the intersection of two slopes, with the east-west incline more pronounced than its north-south counterpart. “A concrete slab and a U-shaped retaining wall open onto the opposite side of the road [not visible in these photos as it is covered in snow], where there are the best views of the mountains and the valley,” says Donaire.