Built-up columns carry roof loads inside the building, permittin…
Every custom home begins with a thorough analysis of its site, but this one benefited from an unusually direct application of that principle. “I survey all my own projects,” says architect Jim Cutler. “I’m a lousy surveyor, but it gets me out there.” What Cutler found here was a grove of black locust trees bordering a meadow with long, broad southerly views. To maximize the dramatic effect of that vista, Cutler sited the year-round family residence on a shelf of land at the edge of the grove, threading an entry drive through the trees to conceal the view until one enters the house. “It’s a study in compression and release,” he says.
Cutler heighened the effect with a narrow entry walk that continues indoors as the main circulation spine of the house, connecting a pair of shed-roof pavilions that open for south light and views. Using a structural system that carries roof loads down inside the building, Cutler detailed the building’s perimeter as wood-framed curtain walls. The result is a house that feels light in both senses of the word. The plan segregates public and private functions, with a kitchen/great room wing and a bedroom wing flanking a sun-catching courtyard.
Builder Dave Prutting calls the site, “an inspiring place to be.” But he took the job primarily for the challenge of crafting Cutler’s inventive, hand-drawn details. Our judges took due note of the care and efforts of both builder and architect, praising the building’s “proportion, scale, and harmony,” its “consistent use of materials,” and its use of stone masonry to interweave indoor and outdoor spaces. Said one, simply, “It’s a wonderful house.”
Project Credits
Entrant/Builder: Prutting & Co. Custom Builders, New Canaan, Conn.
Architect: Cutler Anderson Architects, Bainbridge Island, Wash.
Living space: 3,500 square feet
Site: 50+ acres
Construction cost: Withheld
Photographer: John Lei/The New York Times/Redux (except where noted)
Product Resources
Bathroom plumbing fittings/fixtures: Moen; HVAC equipment: York; Insulation: Icynene; Kitchen plumbing fittings/fixtures: American Standard, Moen; Lighting fixtures: Lightolier; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero; Structural lumber: Bear Creek Lumber; Windows: Quantum.
