Lakeville, Connecticut, USA
Located in the rolling farmland of Litchfield County, Hill House by Joeb Moore & Partners occupies a naturally terraced site, shielded from view from a country drive lined with numerous old stone walls, stone outcroppings, and specimen trees.
The house is nestled between a ledge outcropping, a historic hickory grove, and an expansive sloping meadow, providing panoramic views from both woodland property and built structure.
The property was partitioned into an area for residential retreat, the remainder deeded as conservation land to aid the Environmental Quality in Connecticut.
The natural hillside receding to the meadow below provides a hidden location for a photovoltaic array that serves as the dwelling’s main source of power.
The site/building strategy is to locate a group of four simple (primitive) gable forms in a transitional space between the existing glacial rock outcrop and the upper edge of the long-sloping meadow.
The gable buildings pinwheel around this specific edge condition forming the entry & gallery and a dramatic view of the distant landscape while providing a display space for the owner’s diverse contemporary art collection.
The central gallery or break between the active and passive spaces serves as a transitional and liminal space inviting the visitor to experience the immediacy of the physical works of art and the alluring visual pull of the distant rolling hills and fields.
An intangible light space‚ between art and life.
The buildings are situated within the existing landscape to create indoor and outdoor rooms that respond to site and program conditions within and beyond.
Focused views are directed to both the meadow and the exposed rock ledge at the entry, where the groundscape has been displaced to the green roofscape of the building.
Each of the four buildings engages with the central gallery but is also positioned to draw on the natural ecologies beyond the respective building envelope.
The fifth building, housing the garage and studio, is projected towards the eastern property edge and brackets an intimate motor court.
The architecture’s geometry and massing strategy originates from the site’s farm-land history.
The familiar vernacular forms are entirely clad in wood, which is ventilated and has been treated to weather naturally over time and recede into the landscape.
While the building skin appears understated and uniform, great attention was given to environmental performance and low-maintenance detailing.
Many of the concealed details and design strategies serve multiple sustainable functions.
For example, the thickened exterior, and ventilated wall cavity, allow for continuous insulation, built-in overhangs at window openings for solar shading, and concealed gutters residing outside of the building envelope.
A solution was created for removable gutter boards, milled to align with the gable end cladding, for annual maintenance and visual inspection, but, having the drainage plane outside of the thermal envelope was developed as the first defense against hidden conditions.
Project: The Hill House
Architects: Joeb Moore & Partners
General Contractor: Richard E McCue Inc.
Client: Private
Photographers: David Sundberg / ESTO
