NEEDHAM HOUSE

A search for simplicity drives this project to be both minimal and textural at the same time, punctuating a traditional suburban development with a palette of wood, concrete, and glass. The lot is narrow and deep, and the house is placed back from the street and across its width, acting as a threshold between front and back. A new grove of mature trees creates a porous buffer from neighborhood activity, while at the rear, an expanded clearing defines a private enclave. The house, sited in between these two realms, is an assembly of raw materials, a charred-wood box perched on a structural pedestal of concrete and steel. The glassy and transparent living spaces are organized by the essential elements of oak millwork that hold high-function parts of the house such as stair, kitchen, bathroom, mudroom. Large panels of glass and rolling doors allow a landscape of sunlight and color to penetrate the calm quietude of this house which remains protected from the street but always a part of the terrace, the yard, and the woods beyond.