Lot 6 Gallery

What is vernacular? it refers to common, informal, local, ordinary and even vulgar. More instinctual than planned, this is a common house for ordinary people defined by its site and local resources. Sitting on an undesirable steep lot, this home is based on the concept of the Pennsylvania bank barn: built into the slope with an overhanging fore-bay very typical of the area.

The house’s concrete base is sunken into the hillside allowing access to the ground floor from both levels and providing a natural condition for passive solar. The upper level is lighter and almost floating, opening up to the amazing view. The roof is flat and vegetated so that it blends with the site, maintaining the view from the top of the hill. Materials are left in their unadorned raw state creating beautiful unpredictable randomness.