Clifton House

Project Statement

This 3,600-square-foot single-family residence with a detached 625-square-foot artist’s studio was designed as both a contextual response to its neighborhood and a deeply personal reflection of its owners. The clients—a couple entering the next chapter of their lives together—sought a home that could balance refinement with playfulness, privacy with openness, and modern design with the traditions of its historic surroundings.
From the beginning, the home was conceived as a metaphor for the clients themselves: professional and somewhat reserved on the exterior, yet surprisingly open and engaging once inside. The site was a previously undeveloped lot nestled between two of the oldest and most traditional homes in the neighborhood. To honor this context, the massing was carefully scaled to echo its neighbors, but the form deliberately departs from historic patterning to establish an architecture of its time—quietly modern, yet expressive of the owners’ artistic sensibilities.
The exterior is clad in dark brick that recedes into its green surroundings, with subtle brick detailing providing craftsmanship and texture across otherwise minimal façades. The placement of solid and void was intentionally balanced, providing privacy from the street while opening framed views to the landscape. The owners’ passion for gardening informed the design of the site, where lush plantings and exotic species soften the home’s geometric form and weave nature into daily life.
Upon entry, visitors encounter a dramatic contrast: a light-filled, two-story interior organized around a central moss garden courtyard. Fully glazed on all sides, this courtyard bathes the house in natural light while ensuring privacy. The curated carpet of mosses anchors the home in stillness, offering a meditative counterpoint to the precision of the architecture.
Throughout, the interior serves as a vessel for the owners’ art, furniture, and artifacts collected during travels around the world. Walnut accents—including a fireplace surround, custom closet doors, and floating stair treads—were milled from a large walnut tree removed from the site, extending a tangible connection to the land’s history. The floating stair is flanked by a two-story, double-sided bookcase wall, creating a dramatic vertical display of books and art visible through the glass courtyard from nearly every angle.
This residence demonstrates how contemporary design can remain rooted in context while offering spaces that are personal, reflective, and inspiring. It is a home that quietly engages the neighborhood, but within its walls, celebrates art, nature, and the lives of its owners.

Framework for Design Excellence Narrative

Integration:    integrated into the neighborhood context, integrated into nature

Discovery:  learning to adjust the courtyard garden over time -- designed as an experimental garden for the owners; also the discovery of contrasting exterior vs interior

Ecosystems:  native planting allowed to thrive and grow naturally throughout, also provides pollinator and wildlife habitats

Well-being:  constants visual connection with nature from all spaces in the house via the courtyard.  also controlled daylight to all spaces for better occupant comfort and health.