Lantern House

Our clients asked for a modern design that would recognize and respect its rural New England setting. The white-painted, wooden, gabled forms of the New England farmhouse are here reinterpreted in a crisp, abstracted composition. The glassy, lantern-like entry, with its prow-shaped canopy, signals the open, expansive space within. The center of the H-plan is occupied by a high-ceilinged living and dining room with a concrete floor and a wall of glass doors opening onto a courtyard terrace. One wing contains two bedrooms and bathrooms, and the other houses the kitchen, porch, and study. The H-plan insures that all the rooms have multiple exposures for good ventilation, sunlight throughout the day, and views of the bucolic site. The simplicity and modesty of the house extend to the landscape, where concrete retaining walls define a plateau for outdoor living on the downhill side. Most of the site is left in an un-manicured state of meadow and woods. Photography by Robert Benson