The Wass House: Redefining the Relationship Between Indoor and Outdoor Spaces in a Sloping Natural Setting
Site and Natural Context
The Wass House is situated on a sloping meadow surrounded by dense forests in Accord, New York. This location offers a serene and secluded natural environment, enhancing the connection between the building and its surroundings while providing residents with a strong sense of privacy and tranquility.
Design Concept and Home Renovation
The project represents a contemporary renovation of an existing pitched-roof house. The architects focused on transforming the home into a multi-scaled space, incorporating an open courtyard and a swimming pool to meet the needs of future family use.
Design Objective
The house was designed to serve a creative couple working in the fields of art and fashion, with consideration for hosting children and grandchildren in the future. The design reflects a vision of a spacious and enjoyable environment, allowing for family interaction and offering rich living experiences within an appealing natural context.
Design Guided by Client Taste
Every element of the house was designed to reflect the clients’ refined taste and love for color, as well as their selective sensitivity to detail. This personal guidance contributed to giving each interior and exterior space a unique character that harmonizes with the residents’ personalities and daily needs.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
The renovation relied on close collaboration among landscape experts, interior designers, and contractors, enabling the seamless integration of the couple’s artistic and personal spaces. The home has become an environment that embraces the art collection, pets, and a passion for custom design, reflecting a rich and diverse living experience.
Reinventing the Home Experience
One of the highlights of the renovation was the creation of a new formal entry, realized through a long glass corridor connecting the existing house, the new garage, the artist’s studio, and the new main wing. This transparent passage balances two separate black barn-like structures while offering visitors sequential glimpses of the courtyard, swimming pool, and pool house beyond, enhancing the sense of anticipation and gradual discovery of the various spaces.
Visual Elements and Energy
The custom ceiling mural plays a key role in adding color and movement to the space, transforming the simple environment into a dynamic visual experience that enriches the architectural and functional experience of the home.
Transition to the New Additions
Turning left from the entrance, visitors arrive at the garage and artist’s studio additions, seamlessly integrated with the renovated existing house. This integration ensures visual and functional continuity between the old and new structures while preserving the overall design identity of the home.
Practical Functions and Smart Design
The additions include several practical touches, such as an efficient mudroom for cleaning, a dedicated dog area for paw washing after play, and a covered outdoor space for the dogs. The three-car garage also provides additional storage, meeting the residents’ daily and future needs in an organized and efficient manner.
Blending Beauty and Function
This part of the house exemplifies design that harmoniously combines beauty and function, where every space serves a specific purpose without compromising circulation flow or the sense of openness within the home.
Living Spaces After Renovation
The original part of the house, after renovation, serves as the heart of daily life, featuring main living areas designed to be spacious and connected to the outdoor courtyard. This layout allows for a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor spaces, with direct views of the pool, an outdoor deck, and a screened covered porch, enhancing an open and flexible living experience.
Room Layout and Family Accommodation
A generous guest wing is located at the rear, away from the main living areas, ensuring privacy and tranquility. Additionally, the space includes three more guest rooms and the artist’s studio above the garage, offering comfortable and versatile accommodations for all family members while allowing for interaction or solitude as needed.
Kitchen Organization and Space Definition
The kitchen is characterized by simplicity and functionality, running along one wall, allowing the furniture to naturally define dining and living areas. This approach enhances the flow within the space and creates a balance between the home’s various functions without requiring strict separation between zones. For additional building materials used in modern renovations, refer to the detailed material datasheets.
New Main Wing and Its Location
At the opposite end of the glass corridor lies the new main wing, highlighted by a colorful door that casts blue and yellow shadows onto the concrete floors. This entrance signals the beginning of a distinctive living experience while maintaining visual harmony with the simple character of the surrounding black barn structures.
Interior Openness and Color
While the exterior design emphasizes simplicity and privacy, the interior spaces are open and filled with natural light, with colors used thoughtfully and richly. This interior approach reflects the clients’ passion for personalized design and custom details, adding an artistic touch to every corner.
Craftsmanship and Technical Details
The wing features bespoke joinery, unique bathroom tiles, and an integrated projector in the bedroom for movie nights, demonstrating attention to fine details and the seamless integration of functionality with aesthetics.
Shared Spaces and Indoor-Outdoor Flow
Behind the bedroom lies a sunlit living room with blue stone walls, equipped with a double-sided fireplace overlooking the pool courtyard. Glass doors on either side of the fireplace allow a smooth transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, enhancing connectivity and creating a dynamic living experience closely linked to the surrounding environment.
Exterior Transformations and Connection with Nature
The exterior transformations fully leverage the property’s potential, with the outdoor layout designed to enhance flow and establish a strong connection with the surrounding meadow and forests.
Integration of Natural Materials and Green Spaces
Blue stone pavers gradually disperse as they lead toward different entrances, softening the boundaries between hard surfaces and grass. This creates a natural transition between the exterior flooring and the surrounding meadow, maintaining a sense of continuity and openness. For more building materials, see our material datasheets.
Courtyard and Pool Area Organization
The outdoor surfaces wrap harmoniously around the fireplace, swimming pool, and pool house, enhancing both the visual and functional flow of the exterior space. This arrangement provides smooth and comfortable pathways for daily use and family entertainment.
Covered Terrace Design
The covered terrace features a fully integrated set of practical and recreational amenities, including a curved concrete table, an indoor table, a kitchen, a barbecue grill, a changing room, and a bathroom. These elements are arranged to enhance flow and ease of use for both daily activities and leisure.
Connection Between Outdoor Spaces and the Pool
The paving extends seamlessly toward a hot tub, while the custom-tiled pool includes a shallow wading area for sunbathing, inspired by the iconic pools of artist David Hockney. Numerous chaise lounges line the sides, providing ample space for relaxation and social interaction.
Integration of Art and Personalized Design
The collaborative design between the architects and clients reflects a strong attention to art and custom elements, harmoniously integrating functional and artistic details. In this way, the home offers a cohesive and elegant space that mirrors the residents’ personality while providing an ideal environment for creating family memories.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
The Wass House project can be viewed as a case study demonstrating how the reorganization of an existing home’s spaces can be achieved while connecting it to the surrounding natural environment. Among its clear strengths, the project offers a blend of interior and exterior openness, featuring a transparent entrance and clear pathways between the different buildings. This enhances the experience of moving through the spaces and allows uninterrupted views of the courtyard and pool. Additionally, the integration of functional areas with artistic details provides valuable insights into the relationship between daily performance and the residents’ personal aesthetics. For more similar projects, visit our archive.
However, certain aspects of the project raise considerations from a broader architectural perspective. The design’s focus on the specific desires of the couple and their custom proportions may limit the overall usability for a wider range of occupants or activities. The spatial layout and heavy reliance on the glass corridor and exposed façades may also present challenges related to maintenance, privacy, and long-term thermal performance. Furthermore, the high level of customization in furniture and bespoke joinery can be costly and impractical when replicated in other projects or in multi-occupancy settings.
Overall, the project offers a valuable experience in understanding the potential to blend personalized design, daily functionality, and openness to nature. At the same time, it highlights the importance of considering flexibility, replicability, and sustainability when applying these solutions in different architectural contexts. For more research on integrating indoor-outdoor design, see our dedicated resources.
