Soaring spaces

Saddle Road House Molded to Match Environs

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Some of the elements were so experimental and unconventional that builder Adam Elias had to build full-sized mock-ups to ensure all the design elements came together properly.

At the same time, the structure is very functional.

The overhangs offer protection from heavy snowfalls during winter and the intense sun during summer, while allowing beneficial solar gains during winter months when the sun hangs low in the sky.

“We really like the multiple rooflines, the varying ceiling heights,” says Wolff. “The home has an openness that we don’t have in our home in Washington, D.C. It’s smaller, but it somehow feels bigger.”

Oakley ledge stone is laid horizontally. Visually, this anchors the upthrust of the roof, even as the horizontal gray stucco and horizontal window mullions accentuate the rising rooflines.

“We were initially just going to use the stone to build a wall next to the home. Then we realized how beautifully it lays out horizontally,” says Wolff. “It was not an easy decision to go with it because it was so expensive and difficult to lay. But it was worth it. We think it truly is beautiful.”

Where interior walls interrupt window facades, metal panels have been installed as false windows to maintain the contemporary form of the home.

“Our clients wanted a maintenance-free house. There is no such thing. But this is low maintenance,” says Rixon. “Metal, stucco and stone are the three elements exposed to weather. They’re proven to weather well.”

The home has a feeling of openness from the moment a guest walks inside it.

 A soaring space, called the gallery, serves as the entry point. Ostensibly, it’s a hallway that extends from the kitchen and great room to the bedrooms. But it doubles as an art gallery.

Paintings line one side of the gallery featured by suspended rail lighting, while lights focused on the ceiling offer indirect light for an intimate setting.

Mementoes from the couple’s travels occupy glass and steel cantilevered shelves embedded in stone columns on the opposite side.

The hallway is situated for a northern exposure so no direct light falls on the artwork. Still, abundant natural light filters through the high clerestory windows.

The gallery leads to the kitchen and great room on the southwestern side of the house and the master bedroom on the northwest side. Two staircases lead off it to guest bedrooms.

“We wanted all our living space on one floor, designed with old age in mind, and this feels open and easy to move around in,” says Wolff. “Our guest rooms for friends and family are on the second floor, designed in such a way to keep them separate from us and separate from each other.”

Black, white and gray colors dominate throughout the house, save for an occasional splash of color, including a golden wall in the dining nook and a vibrant blue wall in the master bedroom.

The kitchen boasts a red composite countertop made of Silestone quartz. A certified Greenguard material, it offers built-in Microban® antimicrobial protection. >>>