Architecture
Philosophy
We wanted buildings you might not notice at first: long, low and the colour of the ground they stand on.
The homes are single-storey wherever the land allows. Roofs are planted and extend well past the glass, so that rooms stay cool in August without closing a blind.
Inside, the plan is simple enough to describe in a sentence: a courtyard to arrive through, one long room to live in, and bedrooms kept quiet behind a stone wall.
Design principles
- I
Follow the land
Buildings sit along existing contours. No platform was cut that the hillside did not already suggest.
- II
Build low, build few
Nothing rises above the pine canopy, and four-fifths of the site stays as landscape.
- III
Three honest materials
Local limestone, oiled oak and lime plaster. They are left to weather and are expected to improve.
- IV
Light before form
Every plan began with a sun study. Rooms are placed by the hour in which they are used.
In section
A typical villa in section: stepped with the slope, roofs planted, and the tallest point still below the pines.
Illustrative section, not to scale.
Materials
01 / 03
Limestone
- Source
- Honed, from a regional quarry
- Used for
- Walls, floors, pools
02 / 03
Oiled oak
- Source
- FSC-certified source specified
- Used for
- Soffits, joinery, decks
03 / 03
Lime plaster
- Source
- Hand-applied, mineral pigment
- Used for
- Interior walls and ceilings
Interiors
Rooms are finished in the same stone, oak and lime as the outside, so the threshold almost disappears.
Private consultation
Meet an advisor, see the show villa and take the long path down to the water. Viewings are private and unhurried.
