Project: Useless Bay Beach House
Architecture: Stuart Silk Architects
Interior Design: Susan Young Interiors
Landscape Architecture: Bruce Hinkley
Construction: Heggenes Construction
Location: Whidbey Island, Washington
Photography: Benjamin Benschneider
Text and photos: Courtesy of Stuart Silk Architects
This beautiful, south facing, ten-acre site on Useless Bay sits at the southern end of Whidbey Island. The clients wanted a home to accommodate large groups of friends and family—a place in which to celebrate weekend gatherings over food and shared time together.
The focal point for the home is the dramatic, two-story great room. The space—which includes a dining area at one end and a generous seating area at the other—is book-ended by two identical national park-scaled stone fireplaces. A series of stone columns surround the space and support the exposed structural system above. Stained, clear fir ceilings are layered with a crisscross of wood purlins and trusses in a tapestry that recalls traditional Japanese detailing, appropriate to this Pacific Rim setting. The carefully crafted wood detailing is paired with impeccably fitted stonework that captures our client’s desire to create a home to stand the test of time. The great room opens to a covered terrace, a place to sit sheltered from the southern sun and misty rains. Beyond lays a long sandy beach and panoramic views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Daylight—a precious commodity in the Pacific Northwest—was central to crafting the interior gathering spaces of the Useless Bay Beach House. To make the home light-filled, even on the greyest of days, there are two window-lined, twenty-five-foot-long shed dormers on either side of the main gable that runs the length of great room. These clerestories admit balanced, natural light into the great room throughout the day.
The home’s aesthetic takes inspiration from early Northwest agrarian domestic architecture. Richly-toned, stained shingles, ledge stone chimneys with a band at the base, and super-scaled (eight-foot-tall) double-hung windows contribute to the timelessness of the design and its contextual response. The entire house is set upon a thirty-inch-tall stone base, providing a subtle yet visually sound platform for the home. Close collaboration with the owners resulted in interior finishes and furnishings that feel both inviting and comfortable and that complement the architecture.
When you think of mountain cabin, modern and funk aren't words that come to mind. So we jumped at the opportunity when our clients talked about their dream of a small, modern chalet. Words like alpine, funk, and gezellig drove the design direction.
The renovation of the early 1900's apartment situated on the first floor of the ERTLER apartment building, located in the historic city center of Oradea, designed by the architect Mende Valer
This modern Vancouver house project seeks to answer this question through an alternative design process for the single-family home typology, as governed by existing land use bylaws of Vancouver.
Rosebank House project was realized by Make Architecture and it involved the spatial extension and renovation of an Edwardian house in Kew, a suburb...
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.