Architecture Wednesday: Back to Nature Compound

This is Church House in Germantown, New York, a private 60-acre oasis at the end of a winding drive through the forest to reveal a complex of wood-clad structures sited along a gentle ridge line with Catskills views.

The buildings, nested in vegetable and flower gardens, include a main house, guest studio, artist studio and gardening workshop, entertaining pergola and barn-garage, all oriented west across extensive lawns, laid-stone walls, meadows and mature trees.

Since 2018, the owners creatively transformed this once-rough hunting property into a secluded sanctuary with a diverse native habitat, including walking trails and a 1/2 acre swim pond with dock and gazebo.

The 2000 square foot primary residence, with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, emphasizes simplicity and function while maximizing communal space and storage. There are two central living spaces—each with polished concrete floors—that invite gathering while the separate bedroom areas offer independence and privacy. Both the chef's kitchen—with banquette dining—and the living room-library have floor to ceiling windows that access a courtyard framed by a rock formation studded with succulents.

Additional features include radiant floors, energy efficient mini-splits, a large exterior shower and a fire-pit ledge. Wander past a wildflower meadow and hammocks and find the guest studio, a charming artistic retreat. The pergola and outdoor kitchen and dining areas surrounded by lush hydrangea beds can host large dinners. The workshop-potting shed offers both studio space and entertaining amenities.

The property was conceived to accommodate future expansion, the current septic is large enough to support a 5-bedroom home, allowing for an addition or a separate structure, supported by the supplementary 200-amp service.

Privately sited and yet centrally located in the heart of the Hudson Valley between Rhinebeck and Hudson, minutes from Germantown and Tivoli, with special restaurants, shops and culture just outside your door. Truly a unique and personal estate.

Dwell

Architecture Wednesday: Kalua Koi Road

For $5.3M you can own one of only a few built estates on 5.95 acres of land on the best stretch of Papohaku Beach, one of Hawaii’s largest white sand beaches, in Maunaloa, Molokai, Hawaii.

The main home features an open plan living, dining and kitchen area that opens to a covered lanai and views of the beach and ocean. There are two oceanfront suites, each with a private bath, a plunge pool, expansive, Ipe hardwood decking, Fleetwood windows and doors, and custom architectural woodwork throughout. There is also a guest cottage with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and storage lofts, a pool cabana for entertaining, a 15’ x 40’ heated saltwater swimming pool and a separate 3-car garage with an attached rec room.

The property is powered by photovoltaic solar and offers 4,754 square feet of interior living space—in the two dwellings—plus nearly 5,000 square feet of lanais. A mature orchard is planted with many fruit-bearing trees including lemon, tangerine, lime, grapefruit, starfruit, mango, avocado, orange, banana, and coconut.

Unplug and slow down as you meander, meditate and reflect, or stay connected with the fiber optic high-speed internet. Watch whales in the winter and brilliant summer sunsets over the ocean in this family compound, personal retreat, equestrian property, or create your own blue zone.

Embrace the joy of solitude and discover the peace and tranquility of Molokai’s sunny west end, just a 30 min flight from Maui or Oahu. Surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty and some of the richest waters in the Pacific, Molokai’s slower pace of life is an antidote to modern hustle and the return to a more conscious way of living.

Dwell

Architecture Wednesday: Walled Garden House

While it’s a rather lovely house, what makes it interesting is what surrounds it: the ruins of multiple old stone sheds and outhouses that were restored to retain the history of the site and form the backdrop of the new build.

And that new build is two distinct A-framed volumes, one of which is a 2-story section where the upper floor cantilevers over the lower to create a covered entrance walkway, while the other A-frame is a simpler single-story volume. These 2 volumes are connected with a flat-roofed single-story building that gives the two distinct structures space to stand independently of one another and allow light to penetrate into the walled garden. It also helps to reduce the scale of the building to reflect the scale of the surrounding old stone structures.  The new buildings are a mirror L-shaped reflection of the existing stone ruins that create the walled garden between the new and old.

The building's materials are a celebration of the locale; the stone cladding used on the lower section of the new building is reclaimed from the fallen stone walls on site and so it’s as old as the stone structures yet crafted in a modern manner to highlight the contemporary addition to the site.

Atop this stone cladding is a Tyrolean plaster band that runs around the entire house, tying the different volumes and materials of the house together while a black corrugated metal roof—which mimics the roofs on nearby agricultural buildings—covered the entire home. In addition taken to creating a house that, while very modern, mimics the old buildings, is also quite environmentally friendly. The house is built using prefabricated panels of light gauge metal steel, is super insulated, has triple glazed windows, a mechanical heat recovery system, an external air source heat pump, is extremely airtight, and has roof-mounted photovoltaic panels. The house achieved an Irish Building Energy Rating (BER) of A1, the highest possible grade. 

Now that’s all good, but is it nice? Well, there’s a spacious Great Room with living area and fireplace, dining room with glass walls on two sides, and a sleek modern kitchen. On the same floor are laundry, storage, powder room, and the primary suite with bathroom and walk-in closet. On the second floor are a media room, guest room with en suite bath, and a third bedroom and bathroom.

It's all very sleek and rustic, old stone and metal, and walls of windows to the countryside.

As always, click to emBIGGERate …

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