AD100 architect Deborah Berke recalls the first time she stepped foot on the ground that she now stands the glass house he designed: “It was an inspiration,” he says of the place: a seven-acre swath of green in New Canaan, Connecticut, with thick forests, a gentle slope and a picturesque pond: “I’m a New Englander by heritage, And that quintessential landscape of big trees and water really draws me in.” At that time, the owners of the property approached the current dean of the Yale School of Architecture to build an auxiliary pavilion to her main house, a place for guests to sleep or for them to use as withdrawal. “The push was a light touch to make nature feel more present.”
Through careful placement, clever use of windows, and other transitional tricks, Berke crafted a nuanced sequence that delays gratification, bringing in the scenic environment in a single spectacular sweep. When guests arrive at this beautiful glass house, they are greeted by a seemingly monolithic expanse of gray brick, whose stepped façade conceals the entrance. However, the gravel patio gives way to a broken line of rectilinear pavers that fan out under a simple black metal lattice, inviting visitors. (“That trellis says come here“, Berke jokes). Walk through the door, around the corner, and you’re greeted by a panorama of windowed walls framing the wilderness view. “Before you go in, you don’t really know what’s going to be revealed,” she notes. “Only inside do you feel where you really are.”
The global identity speaks to what Berke calls “the trajectory of classical modernism in New England,” since it was in this corner of Connecticut that mid-century pioneers like Eliot Noyes, Marcel Breuer, and Philip Johnson reinvented the image of American domesticity…a house with glass walls at once. Berke’s pavilion, with its taught volume, limited material palette, and engagement with the landscape, builds on that tradition. Its straight form wraps around an open and flexible floor plan: essentially a bedroom and a combined living, dining and kitchen area, all open to the natural surroundings. thanks to large windows.
At less than 2,000 square feet, the project is not among the largest in Berke. However, as an architect, he explains, “there is joy in the little things. small projectsthe fun is digging into the details,” like the revolving door to the bedroom, which, when opened, slides neatly into a niche and becomes an unnoticeable part of the walnut paneling. Carefully calibrated exterior lighting casts “elegant light without overwhelming the beautiful darkness,” and the marble hearth incorporates a sculptural wood alcove in the same exquisite stone, which also appears on the kitchen backsplash and countertops. Elsewhere, the materials are in a refined juxtaposition. Wooden flooring, for example, gives way to pale stone pavers, drawing a distinction between inside and outside; and the fluted travertine of the shower plays off the gray exterior brick framed by the window.
The project ended in 2021, and although the plans were born with a pre-pandemic mentality, the results were perfect for the times. The pavilion can serve as a refuge for working from home, a place of isolation or an outdoor entertainment space, with a terrace that exceeds the square meters of the structure itself: “We didn’t realize how bright it was,” he reflects. Berke regarding that flexibility, adding that the house moves nimbly from one season to another. The black trellis evokes the exposed tree trunks and deep shadows of New England winter, while the gray brick complements the greens of spring and summer and, in this leafy countryside, of course: “Anything works with The colors of autumn”.
Article originally published in AD US.
Translation and adaptation of Fernanda Toral.
