US architects Easton Combs have built House SIX, a 5,000 sq ft house in Berkshire County, western Massachusetts, near New York’s Hudson Valley. The house responds to a sloped site with a low, elongated, thin volume featuring a folding roofline. A bend and fold in the plan allows the central living space to open onto the south and east while also connecting to bedrooms to the southwest.
The entrance area offers views of the Berkshire mountains, with a three-sided wood fireplace and a black oak kitchen volume forming focal points of the living area. Designed to meet Passive House standards, the house utilizes triple-glazed timber windows and doors, continuous wood-fibre insulation, and dense-pack cellulose for the walls and roof. Fossil fuels are avoided through the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems along with induction cook surfaces. Photo by David Hiepler, courtesy of Easton Combs. Easton Combs
