Located in the hills of Upstate New York, Hillside House, is a high-performance, shared house for two families.
The 6,000-square-foot, energy-efficient home is marked by twin gable forms connected by a large, glassed-walled living porch that overlooks the valley below. With a view of mountains in the distance, the residence has an elegant in-ground pool on its landscaped grounds.
The home is designed as two volumes around a central, lodge-like shared space, which serves the two families along with their guests. Each family has a private wing upstairs, connected by a central stair, with guestrooms and bunkrooms below.
Responding to the rural setting, the main gabled volumes are clad in shiplapped cedar siding and local Connecticut fieldstone. These juxtapose a glazed, flat-roofed pavilion anchored by stone walls on two sides while cantilevering over a natural rock outcropping to connect to the outdoors and capture views beyond.
To conserve energy, the house is positioned on its hilltop site to capture maximum daylight as well as natural breezes inside as well as outside.