Nestled within Durham’s Trillium Forest, this two-story residence sits quietly among a dense canopy of hardwoods and pines. The client’s desire for a connection to beauty of thenatural world directed the design process from the onset. Accordingly, bringing nature into the house became a key design element. As realized, the conceptual design is renderedas a modern dialogue of clean forms that complement the surrounding environment. Its formal composition of light gray volumes emphasizes rather than competes with thesurrounding landscape. The house is surrounded by a dense grove of trees and is composed of three, gray wood-clad that create a U-shaped courtyard entry.
The central two-story volume contains the living room, kitchen, and staircase. It is organized in an open-plan arrangement that invites the forest into the interior environment of thehome. Expansive, floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides of the living room further enhance the connection to the outside.
On the east, the generously sized kitchen opens onto the dining room and extends to an outdoor patio. On the west, the primary suite rises above the forest floor, framing views intothe surrounding woods. A central white steel staircase, surrounded by glass, creates an open volume of light at the core of the home. On the other side of the core, a cantileveredlinear fireplace anchors the tall chimney that extends up into the trees.
The home provides a serene retreat, perfect for solitude and reflection, surrounded by natural beauty and tranquility.