CHARLOTTESVILLE RESIDENCE
Virginia

This new house sits at the head of a former agrarian valley on the outskirts of Charlottesville with distant views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A gravel drive climbs up the slope to an area framed by the house and garage/studio at the edge of the meadow and the woods. The siting was inspired by farmsteads that still dot the surrounding landscape.

The house consists of three structures that sit on a masonry block foundation system that steps up the hill in a series of terraces. Two gable-roofed pavilions, one for living and the other for sleeping, are separated by a flat-roofed passage structure. A main stair, top lit by clerestory windows, extends the line of the slope up through the house. The living space is set high enough above the grade so that the residents can view the distant mountains and yet still feel connected to the life of the valley below.

The two pavilions are clad in stained, rough-sawn cedar siding. The passage structure is clad in painted gypsum panels with cedar battens. The contrast in the materials and color highlights the additive aspect of the building forms, another quality we admired in the region's vernacular structures.

The exposed structural system of the house modulates the main living area to define the kitchen, dining, and living spaces. The roofs are constructed of stress-skin panels, and the vaulted ceilings are in natural-finish birch plywood. The roof structure extends over the upper deck and gives the house a sense of projection out into the valley, while shielding the living room from the harsh afternoon sun in summer. In winter, sunlight still reaches deep into the interior through ganged double hung windows.

In contrast to the openness of the upper level, the lower level is more cellular and dug into the hillside. The floor is a scored, radiant slab on grade, stained the red/brown color of the local soil. The bedroom pavilion, also vaulted at the upper level, gives the sleeping areas intimacy and privacy. Multiple window configurations offer views out to the mountains and up the hill, as well as down a side ravine.

There are a number of environmental strategies at work within the house. The passage structure acts as a large ventilation and cooling device. When the doors at either end are opened, breezes descending off the mountain behind are pulled through the house. Ceiling fans in the vaults and cross ventilation lessen the need for air-conditioning.

MORE