VUE

hen he pointed that out to us, we realized that it was not just the appearance of water and sky, but it was the feeling of them that was alluring to us. It is soothing and calming. is sets the scene for the house. Everything is done with quiet neutral colors and textured materials," the homeowners explained. Although the designers added a lot of landscaping features, many of the surrounding trees are original and untouched. Overall, there is a blurred line between the elements of the house and the natural landscape. "ere are views for different seasons and from different rooms. We located the master bedroom on the second floor because we wanted views stretching out into the distance facing both north and south. You can look over miles and miles of mountains," they said. e horizontal roof lines lend themselves to the ground and ultimately help the space flow together. Part of this flow translates to a sense of calmness that overcomes those who visit. Simple architectural choices such as the aforementioned horizontal lines inspire the home's soothing atmosphere. Because the homeowners are heavily involved in philanthropy, the house was also designed with entertaining in mind for charity events. On any given Sunday, there could be hundreds of people in the house, but the space manages to transition from one room to another so that it could be comfortable with just two or 200 people. Aer joining the design team, Stonehill spent several weeks analyzing the property before he even made a single drawing. e final master plan took two years of design work and resulted in 72 pages of schematic drawings and 500 pages of construction plans. e owners wanted more space but did not want 20 different rooms in the house. Although the house is beyond modest, it does not feel disconnected because all of the rooms are proportional and the house is compartmentalized into different quarters: the library, the guest room, the living room, the dining area, the indoor pool and the courtyard— all of which exhibit an indoor vs. outdoor experience. Stonehill wanted visitors to enter into the house, not just through a door, but to go through a pergola and be transported to another place. Once someone goes through the front door, they enter into the tallest part of the house—a circular foyer. e owners describe the space as dreamy, "...the shadow of the sun crawls along the interior wall like a sundial as the day sluggishly passes." It is from this space that visitors can choose V U E N J . C O M 59

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