PAVILION & ADDITION

A rock walled, wooded property is home for a growing family in Pound Ridge. The 1982 existing house had deteriorating structural issues and an antiquated, undersized kitchen. The clients expressed frustration that guests, and even their own children, entered the house through the garage.

We were asked to re-conceive the house to welcome family entertaining and teenagers simply “hanging out.” The clients wished to spend more time outdoors on their exquisite property, but said that they didn’t like the way typical screened in porches impede views to the outside.

A larger kitchen and a new secondary entrance were the major programmatic elements. We expanded the kitchen, created a spacious breakfast room with views, built a screened pavilion on a new deck, added an all season stainless steel hot tub, and developed a new landscape plan leading from the driveway toward a breakfast room entry.

A vaulted pavilion with easy access from the new breakfast room gives the family a place to enjoy a summer breeze and listen to peepers. A deep eave keeps out water, turning even rainy days into a special occasion for hearing raindrops bounce on a metal roof. Elevated like a treehouse, the pavilion is situated so that views from the house remain undisturbed.

The clients have an extensive outdoor sculpture collection. By building the pavilion at a fifteen degree angle from the main house’s axis, the pavilion and house form unexpected sculptural spaces that complement the client’s collection.