A Classical Cabin Basalt, Colorado
T
he site for the permanent cabin residence is situated on 35 acres of mountain meadows along the bank of the Roaring Fork River. The client, a semi-retired couple with two home schooled children, requested a classically organized home of stone and wood that is rustic yet sophisticated, simple yet elegant. Magnificent mountain views from the site are to the Southeast. The plan was designed as a hybrid of Palladian and Sir Edwin Lutyens concepts. Cross axes like those found in many of Palladio’s plans define symmetry front to back and left to right. A variance from the symmetry occurs in the Lutyen-esque procession beginning at the entry where the visitor undergoes various axial shifts that stray from the main axis, finally making their way to the Great Room at the rear of the cabin. The symmetry is resolved on the rear exterior by means of patios and a fountain. All drawings were laid out with construction lines using a straightedge, then darkened by a freehand “shaky-hand” technique, where each line has a slight wobble, introducing more life into the drawing.
Preliminary Sketches-After developing several plan diagrams for room placement and adjacencies, front and rear elevations were explored. Though
the plans had Palladian aspects and Lutyens-like procession, the elevations reflected too much of an Italian style, rather than a rustic mountain style.
Site Plan - The approach to the cabin begins at the turnoff from the main road. After emerging from a colonnade of trees, the drive bends toward the house to offer a brief glimpse of the expansive formal landscape. A second later, a screen of evergreens blocks views to the house until, after passing through a wall of trees and seeing the river for the first time, the drive curves half circle to provide the visitor with an unobstructed frontal perspective of the cabin. The residence itself is angled so that the long axis of the house is angled 30 degrees counterclockwise from horizontal. This enables nurturing winter sunlight as well as the best quality summer sun to enter the living spaces of the house while limiting the exposure of hot and glaring summer sun.
Floor Plans - Upon entering the front door
on the main axis, the visitor faces stairs immediately ahead that direct traffic off axis. Coats can be taken to the right, but in order to access the entertainment space, the plan requires crossing over the main axis several times, passing the stairs, and through a gateway-type corridor to ultimately enter the Great Room at its center (which is off axis from the house). Through the use of four equally spaced doors, patios, a pergola, and a cascading fountain at the rear of the house, both the Great Room and the exterior are visually resolved.
There are two wings on the first floor. One houses the Master Suite and the other a two-car garage with a covered breezeway. The second floor holds strict symmetry, with two bedrooms and twin loft spaces.
Second Floor
First Floor
Elevations - The rusticated stone base is made from dry stack ledge stone that forms a low band that wraps the cabin, except on the front faรงade where on either side and behind the portico the stone steps up to half and full height. The rusticated Palladian portico is composed from square timbers and iron railings. Elsewhere, the walls are enclosed with square timbers, dovetailing at corners. At the wings, however, the log corners are treated with wide Finnish-style trim. Several lightning rods are perched atop ridge lines of the standing seam metal roof .
Column Detail - A detail of a portico column shows the rusticated base and capital to reflect vernacular tendencies. Proportions of the columns, though, are similar to the Corinthian order. The pill shape, formed by broken ringlets of the cast-iron railing, is manifest in various locations in the design of the cabin, including elevations, plans, and landscape.
Great Room Elevation - An enlarged elevation
of the fireplace wall in the Great Room displays a stained wood wainscot amplifying to a wood mantle set in a ledge stone fireplace. At the ceiling, dropped beams divide the room horizontally while the wood entablature finishes the vertical tripartite composition.
Building Section - A transverse building section
illustrates elevation changes as well as provides an experiential and light quality of each space.