On a gentle slope along the Westport River less than a mile from the coast in southeastern Massachusetts is an unabashedly modern glass house. The architecture expresses the owners’ gregarious way of life through its openness, and it accommodates their passions for cooking and entertaining their large group of devoted friends. The house recycled an earlier house’s foundation but is otherwise completely reconceived. Two bar buildings float above sculpted lawn terraces stepping down to the river, sliding past each other to enhance views and promote cross ventilation. The riverside bar has a 10-ft. by 80-ft. continuous wall of glass that frames views of the river, while the inland bar is shorter and more solid, with windows opening to carefully framed views of the woods. Between the two bars is a compact circulation zone that terminates at one end in a floor-to-ceiling window facing the woods; the main roof drain is directly above, framing a rain-waterfall that spills into a steel-framed, rectangular bed of river rock in the ground below.
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From the river a linear glass house appears to float above its mostly solid base and tiered lawn.
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The flat abstraction of the house as seen from the river becomes more three dimensional as you approach the house from the river. A continous wood frame defines windows and solid volumes of subtly differing widths, height, and depths.
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The house is conceived of as two bars that slide past each other in plan. A visual connection is created as one approches the entry ramp, through the screen porch to the river.
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The dining area is completely open to the kitchen, and finishes in the kitchen match those of the fireplace wall. Flooring throughout is bleached Ash.
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View of the entry deck and grilling porch with a direct visual connection to the kitchen.
