T h e   E i c h   R e s i d e n c e    
   

 

 

 

Hugging  the hillside, this retirement home in Butler, TN is an assemblage of tin-roofed houses sited to  follow the contours of the land.  They gather  around a protected courtyard nestled  between the house and  wooded mountain slope to the north.

 

 

The south side opens up to  distant views with generously glazed walls and a large porch projecting out into the trees.

 

 

In summer the house is nearly hidden in a canopy of green.

 

 

 With to-the-floor glass, corner windows,

 

 

and multiple openings to the outside, it has the feeling of a treehouse, with views that animate the interior  spaces  and  change dramatically with the seasons.

 

 

Summer 

 

 

Fall

 

 

Winter

 

 

Living, dining and cooking are combined in one large, casual space, 

 

 

which opens onto a courtyard patio on one side and a screened porch on the other.

 

 

To maintain an easy flow  from inside to outside and from one space to another,  all is on one level for most of the house, and partial walls and built-ins  are used to separate spaces, rather than solid walls.

 

 

Only the  guest wing and den step up the hillside, still open to the main space, but partially screened by a stairwell wall of display shelves.     

 

                                    

By maintaining a narrow house depth we minimize the front-to-back grade change. This also allows  light to stream from one exterior wall to the other  and cool mountain breezes  easily to pass through. 

 

 

The screened porch, accessible from the Master Bedroom and the Kitchen/Dining/Living Room, 

 

 

dramatically expands the living space,

 

 

and intensifies the feeling of living in the treetops.

 

 

Porch skylights allow light to enter the interior of the house.

 

 

Sunlight enlivens the space, producing complex shadows and reflections as it  hits  the exposed roof structure of the porch.

 

 

The entry path leads you from the carport and guest parking... 

 

 

 to a hidden courtyard garden and patio, enclosed by the mountain on one side  and what feels like a grouping of individual houses on the other.

 

 

This kitchen window has a view of the soft northern light as it passes through the trellis above and washes the wall and planter  along the  entry walk.

 

 

Slatted walls  cast an ever-changing light pattern across the open structure of the carport.

 

 

As in the house, this stairwell window brings together light, color, pattern, forest and building.

 

 

 

 

MODEL PHOTOS