In the Mid Atlantic

Commonly understood as a bridge between North and South, DC is geographically more of a bridge between the Chesapeake Bay to the east and the Appalachian Mountains to the west. Today NE-SW I-95 dominates the landscape of the Mid-Atlantic, but the mountains to the northwest have long been linked to the bay to the southeast by rivers and streams that have carried goods and people down from the mountains for millennia. These diverse ecologies experience cold, damp winters and hot, humid summers, challenging architecture to withstand the travails of time.

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Swampy Hollow
40°59'N 72°14'W

A screened porch in the woods by the beach.

Expressing the structure the house knew it had inside all along.

The Sparrows
38°56'N 78°12'W

A host of sparrows sit atop a ridge with a view out over the Shenandoah Valley. The houses are similar, but each is unique, and together their clustering lets the landscape do the chirping.

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High Land
39°18'N 76°23'W

On the shores of the Chesapeake Bay a stilted home sits safely above the flood elevation. The trio of simple, gabled forms are clad with charred cedar and supported by a raft of wooden piles akin to the nearby boardwalks.

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Summit House
39°38'N 77°43'W

A historic brick school on a hill in Hagerstown is converted into a boutique hotel. New wings and a built-out basement expand the landmarked building’s footprint with as soft of a touch as possible.

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Port Tobacco
38°30'N 77°00'W

Forgotten land between neighboring houses is reclaimed for a rural retreat near Port Tobacco. Embracing the ridge of a hill overlooking a small creek, the house settles into the landscape with minimal impact.

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River View
38°43'N 77°01'W

Renovation of a house designed and built by former civil engineer and National Bonsai Museum Director William Merritt. Inspired by Japanese Metabolist architecture, the house’s three hexagons interlock to create views across the Potomac River toward Mt.Vernon.

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Cliff Side
38°51'N 78°15'W

An old log cabin perched above the cliffs of the Shenandoah river is expanded with a side addition which continues the home’s silhouette with an updated material palette of cork and copper.

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Noble Farm
38°39'N 78°09'W

Conceived as a tribute to local agrarian forms, this sprawling site in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains supports a dog-trot plan of gables, stone hearths and prows.

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