This house in a Cleveland suburb takes its place amidst stately, century-old homes. Situated on a one-acre site with neighbors close on three sides and a heavily traveled street on the fourth, it completes the enclosure of a fenced entrance courtyard. Passing through an arched gate in the fence, one leaves behind the busy public world to discover a private gardened refuge.
Care was taken to make the organization of the various parts of the house easy to understand and memorable. First, a path connecting one end of the house to the other was created, along which all the rooms are arranged. A curving and colorful display wall and a large tree-shaped hall window are landmarks along the way. Second, the house is divided internally into two clearly identifiable districts, public and private, with interior windows looking down from the private realm of the second floor bedrooms to the living room, entry, dining room, and den.
The house is designed to evoke emotional responses from inhabitants by manipulating space and light so: constrained spaces release into expanded ones; views look both down and up; sun floods the kitchen in the morning and the living room later in the day; and dramatic vistas of treetops are seen through windows set high in the dormers. Special places are provided for the display of the owners’ art collection and objects brought back from their travels.
Centerbrook received three design awards for the project, including from AIA Connecticut and Builder Magazine.
Photography © Peter Mauss/Esto, Judith Watts