David Coleman, FAIA, approaches residential design with the conviction that houses should be “happy.” To him, that means buildings that have abundant natural light and break down the difference between inside and out in a variety of unexpected ways. Sometimes it means using bold geometries to create dynamic environments, especially in modestly sized houses like this one on 10 acres of grassland. The underlying notion is that houses should provide not only physical but psychological sanctuary.
That can be easier to accomplish when the design brief is basic and has only one person to please. A retired Boeing aerospace engineer and avid hiker, David’s client was moving full-time from Everett to Sultan, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. He asked simply for a one-bedroom house with a great room, study, and large woodworking shop.
In addition, he liked the idea of having an open-air courtyard where he could read and relax inside the building. “He wanted a house that was unusual, which is one reason he came to us,” David says. “A lot of our buildings use interesting geometries. I think it’s a great design device because it gives buildings a special character.”
The bucolic setting on open pastureland inspired a house that gently directs views while providing cross-views through cutaways. Horses are part of the panorama. Most of the neighbors have horses, and there is a large equestrian center next door, and a wooded area to the east. In honor of the region’s timber heritage, “we decided to create a regular pattern of exposed beams and posts, and within that structure we started to carve out certain pieces to form the outdoor covered porches,” David says. “That led to the geometry that has two different grids overlaid.”
The elevations are a composition in light and dark, form and void. “On the north entry side we wanted the form to be elemental and not compete with the field and mountains,” David says, “so we kept the palette very simple.” The primary cladding is cream-colored vertical tongue-in-groove cementitious boards placed 9 inches on center. “In the openings where we cut away to expose the post and beam structure, you can see where the hem-fir timbers appear as a natural wood tone,” he says. “The idea is that the outer skin is a simple element that wraps the entire building.”
In contrast to the cementitious boards, dark-stained ebonized cedar defines the bedroom wing on the east as a distinct composition. It also lines the entry porch, continuing inside along the foyer wall. “These are themes we often play with in our projects—outer skin and inner skin,” David says. “In this case the inner skin is primarily glass—the cutaways. The tonal difference creates an interesting dynamic quality. On small buildings, these types of approaches help to enliven the building and give it a strong character and scale that can in a way compete with the scale of this giant open field.”
Angle of Repose
In addition to the entry porch, the twisted geometries result in two angular covered porches—one outside the great room on the southwest, the other spanning the study and workshop on the east, where morning sun rises over the trees. The north entry sequence lends itself to outdoor gathering. Visitors arrive to a gravel car court that stretches between a storage building and the house, where wide “sitting stairs” invite casual conversation. A wall extending from the house’s west elevation also defines this entry space while providing privacy from the road.
“We created a hedgerow of about 50 trees along the road on the west side of the property,” David says, “and the wall creates a private outdoor area at the entry, enclosing a meditative garden and specimen tree.”
Inside, a humble material palette balances the bold formal moves. White oak on the floors, living room window seat, and desks keep the interior light and airy, along with white IKEA kitchen cabinets and quartz countertops. The bath is treated similarly with a painted vanity, glazed oversized subway wall tile, and porcelain tile floor. Throughout, the ceiling’s 2-by-6-inch tongue-in-grove car decking and 6-by-10-inch hem-fir beams are exposed, expressing the roofline’s upward slope toward the mountains on the south.
Within the floor plan, a small elevation change differentiates the living and sleeping areas while creating a crawl space for mechanicals and storage. Oriented southwest, the main-level great room captures the best views and sunsets. Open to the sky near the center of the room, a small, planted garden lends a sense of permeability, as does an oculus on the adjacent porch. “The idea was to create a framed view of the stars at night,” David says of the oculus. “During the day it creates an interesting shadow effect in the building.”
Beyond the entryway is an ad-hoc exercise area, anchored by a bench and a storage wall that keeps the equipment out of sight. Up a few steps, a skylit corridor leads to the laundry room and woodworking shop on the left and the bedroom, bath, and study on the right, which face south toward the fields.
Given the difficulty of getting the native grasses here to grow back after they’ve been disturbed, the team took great care to minimize the construction footprint. Indeed, the field comes right up to the house, as if the building has been there forever. Playful and energetic without being overly complex, the design emphasizes the house’s relationship with the outdoors. It reflects the architect’s preference for buildings that instill joy and the priorities of the owner after years of working in a city.
“Belief in the significance of architecture is premised on the notion that we are, for better or for worse, different people in different places—and on the conviction that it is architecture’s task to render vivid to us who we might ideally be,” writes Alain de Botton in The Architecture of Happiness. While that’s a tall order for any dwelling, it’s not hard to imagine that Field House fulfills that sense for its owner.
Field House
Sultan, Washington
Architect: David Coleman, FAIA, David Coleman Architecture, Seattle
Builder: SBI Construction, Seattle
Structural engineer: Gary Gill, Seattle
Project size: 2,750 square feet
Site size: 10 acres
Construction cost: $500 per square foot
Photography: Lara Swimmer
Key Products
Cabinetry: IKEA
Cabinetry hardware: Linnea
Cladding: Hardie Artisan Shiplap, western red cedar
Countertops: Caesarstone
Dishwasher: Bosch
Entry doors, hardware: Simpson, Inox
Faucets: Kohler
Finish materials: Surface Art wall tile
Flooring: Kentwood, ArcSurfaces porcelain (formerly Pental)
HVAC: Mitsubishi heat pump
Insulation: VaproShield
Lighting: Louis Poulsen, SONNEMAN
Millwork: Painted poplar
Paints and stains: Cabot T&G stain (exterior), Benjamin Moore Fiber Cement (interior)
Range: KitchenAid
Refrigerator: Liebherr
Roofing: Taylor Metal
Shower enclosure: C.R. Laurence
Shower faucets: Aquabrass
Sinks: Kohler, Presenza
Skylights: CrystaLite
Toilets: TOTO
Ventilation: Panasonic
Washer/dryer: Bosch
Windows: Sierra Pacific Windows