House Design of Hillside Sanctuary Oriented To Provide Expansive Vistas Of The Ocean

The owner of this property came to us looking for a personal retreat inspired by a home lost to fire decades earlier in the hills of Appalachia. Our task was not to recreate it but rather to give its spirit new form in the Pacific Northwest. Taking inspiration from its remote site in the San Juan Islands, our team envisioned a series of simple stone volumes. From that concept emerged the main house and a guest house, each responding to its own unique location on the site. Together they provide friends and family with comfortable accommodation while offering a sanctuary for the owner at the main home. Taking full advantage of sweeping views of Puget Sound, the main home is sited on a small plateau high on top of a steeply-sloping hillside. With a view on one side and a road on the other, the site suggested a stone plinth and stone wall to form the base and rear of the house. A pair of stone fireplace volumes supports the concept, rising together to form the boundaries of a central stone staircase that s