In the words of the architects Olson Kundig:
When I first visited this site, the owner and I immediately had the idea for a building that seems to be emerging out of the landscape. The east end of the house is buried, while the two projecting west-facing wings have unobstructed 270-degree views of Bald Mountain, Griffin Butte, and Adams Gulch. The house takes advantage of all the site has to offer: sweeping landscape views, balanced with a sense of being underneath, within. I’m always trying to find the yin and yang of a place. Likewise, the two main sections have windows onto a central courtyard, and the pivot wall opens to face it as well. The idea was to create more intimate moments that would balance the big views.
The clients wanted a modern house that would feel authentic to the high desert mountain landscape. So it is rugged; the client calls the style “mountain industrial.” Everything that touches the earth is stone and board-formed concrete, and everything that projects out is steel and glass. The roof is made of corrugated weathered steel and slopes slightly. The wood finishes on the interior are intended to make the occupant feel warm and protected, in weather that can at times drop to minus 20 degrees.
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