Architecture Wednesday: Newburg Residence

It’s been so steamy here in Smallville I wanted to get away to somewhere a little cooler ... maybe on a lake ... maybe in the woods. And so this home, a single-family 1,650 square foot main house, with a 550 square foot guest house, was the answer.

The house is sited beside an overgrown, man-made pond on the owners’ 88 acre vineyard—vineyards mean wine, another plus—that was not conducive to cultivation. So the owners hired an architect to make the pond and the home a single entity in which to enjoy and connect with the wild creatures that come to the water.

A Douglas Fir and steel bridge was placed across the north end of the pond, which was enlarged and loosely ordered to appear more natural beside the structure of the residence.

Visitors park about 150 feet away, then walk through the forest to the bridge that crosses a small section of the pond and ends at the main entry. Through the front door one instantly experiences the broad vista of the pond.

The home itself is a simple steel frame carrying a wooden roof structure; the primary box houses a kitchen, living, dining room and master bedroom. A mudroom connects the home to the garage while the guest house is connected by an outdoor covered walkway. The home faces South to capture the light and the warmth of the Pacific Northwest, while radiant heating in the floors makes winters toasty.

It’s a simple house, a box really, but sited next to the pond, the owners have seen dragonflies, crawfish, Rainbow trout, bats, Cedar waxwings, a blue heron they call Herman, Wood ducks, hawks, garter snakes, possum, deer, raccoons, and coyotes.

Luckily you can see them from the inside of the house, you know, especially the snakes and the coyotes!

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