As their second project for the same client, and over the course of a decade, Anik Pearson Architect developed a master plan for a new family compound on a largely untouched 68-acre wooded parcel in Upstate NY. The property, easily accessible from NYC via mass transit, is perched over the Pawling Nature Reserve and within a stone’s throw of the Appalachian Trail. The program, to be developed over the long term, comprises of a main house, guest house, dance studio, and caretaker’s house, all linked by walking trails. The client, a patron of the Arts, set Anik Pearson Architect free to channel their inner originality on the aesthetic style of the buildings; his only requests were for a maximum connection to nature and to the outdoors, low maintenance and the artful framing of views of the pristine landscape. In the planning phase, the client was guided by the firm to make decisions aimed at reducing the ecological footprint of the development, with the intent to ensure optimal building performance, energy efficiency, and minimal topographic disturbance.

The completed main house, nestled between a young oak forest, moss-covered boulders, and a grove of ancient hemlocks, was inspired by log stacks and wooden ramps in the spirit of the mining structures of the client’s native Pacific Northwest. Positioning and detailing of ventilated facades, generous slide-fold doors and bands of casement windows frame views while capturing cooling breezes in the summer, rendering air conditioning obsolete. Resilient exterior materials of untreated cedar siding, Rheinzink roofs and galvanized fixtures not only age gracefully, but require very little effort and energy to maintain. All landscaping was designed with native plants that require no irrigation or mowing. Water conservation, absorption, and recapturing are facilitated by low-flow fixtures, a green roof and stormwater collection.

On the interior, details were developed from the simplicity of Shaker architecture as well as the whitewashed color palette found in traditional Scandinavian houses. Space is compact but flowing, open to expansive screened dining porch and sleeping porches for enjoyment by multiple generations of family.