Situated on a thin strip of land spanning from protected bay and wetlands to the Atlantic Ocean, Island House demonstrates that seven bedrooms, entertaining space, windsurfing and boating equipment storage, and beach access can touch down lightly on a fragile landscape.

A simple site strategy compresses the bedrooms into a two story block nestled into a pine forest, and raises the living floor to mid-way between these two levels. Connected by a gentle floating stair of finely crafted beech, two stories feels like a single story. While the entrance façade is tucked into the meadow with the restraint of a cedar planked fence, interior views to the landscape and sea remain vast and magnificent.

The energy strategy uses radiant heating in stone floors, a breathable rainscreen façade with western red cedar planking, planted roofs and a cistern to capture runoff for landscape maintenance and fire protection.

• info and work, please visit the architect’s website here
  Photos by © Peter Rose & Partners