Merry-Go-Round Farms House

This house for a couple with two grown children attempts to simplify the lives of the owners by providing a small number of generous spaces in lieu of a larger number of particularized rooms. Aside from requisite bedrooms, including one on the main level for the eventuality of necessary accessibility, the program is reduced to an intimately-scaled library, a generous, open kitchen, and a large double-height room for living and dining. This room takes the form of a half cylinder in order to gather in the views of the wooded site, while the remainder of the house fits within an orderly bar. The bar and the cylinder are then separated by a slot for light. A landing at the top of the stairs occupies this slot and all circulation within the house involves moving between the two pieces. Materials – concrete, steel, glass, and wood – are used in ways which express their natural properties.