Lantern House

The Lantern House sits on the perfect balance between being nestled into the hillside and rising above it. Designed as two levels for a local entrepreneur and family, the very linear “L” shape is able to spread the main spaces of the house out more evenly across the site in the direction of the topography. This allows the view to take precedence in almost every room, while also not sacrificing any functionality of the home. The resulting design steps the house back as it moves up the hill, using the landscape to activate the architecture and for nature to be experienced from each floor in a different way.

The simplicity of the horizontal rooflines are only broken by the stair volume where the large site-glazed corner window creates an eminence that serves as a “beacon guiding you home”; hence giving the house its name. The project’s materials palette is centralized around the limestone lueders where the exterior cladding also comes through the house reimagined as other versions of the same stone; the exterior walls (chopped), the interior stone floor (honed), the exterior patio deck (brushed), and the walls in certain areas (polished). By doing this, the stone takes on a new identity as you move through the house.

A wonderfully methodical design that is edited down for the simplicity of modern luxury living.