living small, living well

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Sometimes a house has few points of contact with the land in order to minimize the environmental footprint. Other times the site is so challenging that to have continuous footing is far too costly.

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Such is the case of the 9 Point House, named for the number of structural contact points it has with the heavily wooded and steep grade of the four acre site that over looks the city of Melbourne, Australia.

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The house, built by ITN Architects, is relatively small and in order to maximize space, decks and parts of the upper living space are cantilevered off the building.

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The simple mono pitch roof and perfectly square floor plan keep the outer structural walls to a minimum, further cutting material costs. The Colourbond steel siding is cheap to produce and apply, needs little in maintenance and protects against the threat of fires, so common to the region.

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But in the end it is the amount of light and the use of outdoor living space that really captured my attention. I first found the house through digsdigs.com, but followed their link to the architect’s site.

I really like the idea of this table. You can find it at canvashomestore.com. The simple industrial steel base almost disappears below the cedar tabletop, made from salvaged New York City water towers. The great thing about cedar is that it only gets better with time and weathering, and is easily used indoors or out.

The bench in the foreground is also made from salvaged cedar. What a beautiful way to recycle. You can click on the image to see more.

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When it comes to homes, there are few things more inviting than warm light, a beautiful vista, and a comfortable spot from which to view them both. Peter Frazier’s little office/guest bedroom has both. Nestled in the woods overlooking Chuckanut Bay in Bellingham, Washington, the single room space fits nicely into its surrounding landscape.

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I found this on digsdigs.com, a wonderful resource if you have not already discovered it. I was struck by the scale and simplicity, and of course, the light. But I can imagine that even on those cloudy, wet days that are so common to this part of Washington, the large windows and cozy space still offer a wonderful warm and dry sanctuary.

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There is incredible power in function and simplicity. Take the Series 7 chair, designed by Arne Jacobson in 1955 and still produced and manufactured in Denmark by Fritz Hansen.