View With a Room

A View with a Room

For years they had been pruning the landscape. They methodically removed trees and brush to reveal a landscape feature just far enough away, but close enough for it to be the focal point of just about all rooms in their home. The rear of the house was draped in glass to pull it in, but still something was missing. The open living plan was not conducive to rest and solitude. It was a distracting cacophony of the everyday life in the kitchen, family room, and home office. They needed a quiet place.

What if there was a room “away” from it all. An escape pod that they could bask in the warmth of a wood stove or throw open the windows and let the breeze run through (without mosquitos and other nuisances) all while enjoying the prized landscape beyond? With the door closed all of the inner workings of home could be sequestered.

For lack of a clearer vision we initially labeled our new addition as a sunroom. Positioned off the side of the existing home it was to sit at the end of the long driveway. The façade was to be a focal point in itself from the approach from the street, and it had to be an extension of the current home’s formal architecture. Between it and the house we crafted a mudroom with a metal roofed porch to clearly signal to visitors that this is our entry. This mudroom space works as the perfect pivot point to house, escape pod or outdoor spaces. From here we can move freely from inside or outside to deck, backyard or beyond.