Sitting high on a hill in the forested wilds of southern Vermont is a house unusual for its area. At first glance, it looks like a Japanese-style farmhouse from the north island of Hokkaido with its hewn timber frame, wooden windows, and deep eaves. Yet there is something fresh and new about the contemporary touches: the standing seam roof, rustically elegant wood and tile-floored interiors, and board-form concrete half walls. What was needed was a clean and simple landscape move that held up the steep surrounding slopes with a long stone retaining wall.

The house is composed of two long offset barn buildings with eaves that are joined in the middle around an exterior stone courtyard.

The wall encloses a level grass shelf around the house and a large courtyard and play space for the couple’s dog.

The wall borders a rectangular quartzite terrace with a beautiful view out to the surrounding landscape.

Plantings in geometric beds surround more stone pavers that turn into a terrace for the guest wing of the house.

The house is composed of two long offset barn buildings with eaves that are joined in the middle around an exterior stone courtyard.

On the entry side of the house, retaining wall holds up the slope between garage and house.

The wall encloses a level grass shelf around the house and a large courtyard and play space for the couple’s dog.

A set of broad stone steps and linear pavers take visitors straight to the front door.

Photography by: Seamus Flynn Photography
JMMDS Project Manager: Jana Bryan
Collaborators: Terrigenous, Chester, VT

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Read more about it in the JMMDS Blog post, “JMMDS Residential Landscape Design: A Contemporary Home in Southern Vermont”