A Bethesda House for a Chicago Couple

Project Details

Project Description

Program This project is a new home in an established suburban neighborhood for an artist and an economics professor, both Chicagoans, retiring to the area to be near children and grandchildren. Interior programmatic requirements center on ground floor living, including a master bedroom suite, a living/dining room, a kitchen/family room, and artist’s studio, with second floor guest rooms and home office. An open stair tower and gallery link the first and second floors. Exterior requirements center on gardens, terraces, and a swimming pool – all designed to ensure privacy from neighboring residences. Solution Conceived as a contemporary courtyard house, a two-story main volume spans east to west across the site and separates the public street from the private gardens and swimming pool. A two-story front wing forms a parking court, while single story wings behind frame the lawn panel and provide an armature for the gardens and pool. Designed with primarily solid walls adjacent to neighboring properties, expansive glass walls open the interiors to the courtyard. The main formal feature of the residence is the hip-roofed pavilion. The repetition of this form helps to reduce the scale of the structure within the gardens and recalls the owners’ Chicago heritage. Deep overhangs, assisted by trellises and pocketed roller shades, provide solar protection for all interior spaces. Exposure on at least two exterior walls in principal rooms promotes cross ventilation and minimizes the use of cooling in the summer. A high efficiency HVAC system, open and closed cell foam insulation, and energy efficient windows and doors, all employed to minimize energy consumption, compliment these design strategies. A material palate of local fieldstone, stained cedar siding and shingles, and an acrylume roof minimize the need for maintenance and harmonize with the gardens.