With views of the Catskill Mountains, restored meadows and preserved woods, a single-story home reclines atop a hill in the Hudson Valley, a couple of hours north of New York City. The owners sought a tranquil retreat for family and guests to find inspiration and connection. Interweaving indoor and outdoor space, the house’s grandly scaled daylight openings, exposed timber-framed construction and regionally quarried stonework create a soothingly solid, natural material palette.
Custom-designed by Lake Flato Architects, the home’s blend of traditional craftmanship and contemporary technologies defies a specific architectural style. Conceived before the pandemic, its construction employed a combination of hand-crafted, prefabricated and site-assembled solutions. This high-performance, all-electric home is powered by renewable geothermal wells with a solar-ready roof for future flexibility.
The roof’s gabled peak lifts the heart of the home and heightens the expansive window views available in the living room and dining room. The building has a plus-shaped plan. The living, kitchen and dining volume extends along the northwest-southeast axis, and the low-slung bedroom wing stretches northeast-southwest.
The full bedroom wing includes two guest rooms. Affectionally referred to as “the motel,” the doors lining the hallway have a uniform appearance with the same sconce flanking each of them, evoking an upscale hospitality atmosphere. Two outbuildings are set apart from the main house: the carport and the pool house, the latter of which the homeowner uses as a writing room. The total livable space encompasses approximately 5,000 square feet.
Design-driven Collaboration
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Lake Flato Architects creates spaces “that enrich communities and nurture life.” Its projects are described as “tactile and modern, environmentally responsible, and authentic, artful and well-crafted. The firm’s designs evolve from an appreciation for the pragmatic solutions of vernacular architecture, the honesty of modernism, and the context of our rich and varied landscape. By employing sustainable strategies to a wide variety of building types and scales, Lake Flato generates architecture, interiors, and urban design and planning solutions that conserve energy and natural resources, while creating high-performance buildings and healthy built environments.”
Rebecca Bruce Comeaux, AIA, LEED AP, is a professional architect with 20 years of specialization in custom residential projects, including with Lake Flato Architects and now as owner of Comeaux Architects.
Rebecca said she works in collaboration with clients to create residential projects that “thoughtfully connect aspects of place and people into a coherent, compelling whole. Designing projects from New York to New Mexico, I incorporate regional materials that respond to the local climate and craft.”
Before starting her own firm, Hudson Valley Retreat was one of Rebecca’s final projects with Lake Flato’s Residential Studio. Her coworkers on the project included Bill Aylor, AIA, who has since retired, and Catherine St-Pierre, AIA, who had joined the firm in 2016 to begin her professional career.
Showering compliments on her colleagues, Rebecca shared, “Bill is a very thoughtful, quiet, painterly person. He can speak powerful statements in a whispered tone. And Catherine is one of the most absorptive people I’ve met. She could soak it in, contributing in the best ways, and bring together all the loose strings for a neatly finished result.”
Client-focused, Scenic Siting
While most of their work was done virtually, Rebecca and Bill visited the site and met with the owners in person during the pre-pandemic design phase and during construction. These meetings helped them to better understand the client’s needs and to inform the design concept and its future construction.
“The client wanted a place for their family to get away and be in the country. He’s a writer and likes reading. She takes nature walks and collects interesting specimens,” noted Rebecca. “Their property is a couple hours north of the City. If you take the train, you’ll see the beautiful scenery along the way.”
The client’s family owned the 24-acre property, which had been used as hayfields. “It’s an upside-down heart-shaped lot. As you come to the top of a hill, you face northwest and have views of the Catskill Mountains in front of you with the wooded area behind you,” explained Rebecca. There, on the hilltop, was where the home was built.
Vistas, Vignettes, Variation
“‘Vistas and vignettes’ is what Bill used to say,” remembered Rebecca. “The vignettes are the views into the woods and from the bedrooms. The windows at the front of the house frame the vistas of the Catskills. In the living room and dining room, we maxed out the views with the enormous windows. We went as large as Kolbe could go. The result is astonishing. The scale is breathtaking.”
She continued, “At Lake Flato and for most of my clients’ projects, I’m designing openings that span wall-to-wall and corner-to-corner to get that full view and immersive experience. We’re not interested in a standard, rectangular window set in a typical, modestly sized, rough opening. These windows are uniquely made to fit the shape, scale and style of each project.”
We’re not interested in a standard, rectangular window set in a typical, modestly sized, rough opening. These windows are uniquely made to fit the shape, scale and style of each project.”
Massive direct set windows crowned with triangle-shaped windows are the centerpieces of the two ends of the main living space’s window-wall configuration. The triangles precisely follow the exposed ceiling trusses’ 45-degree openings. In the living room, awning windows underline the direct set, and swing doors topped with transoms flank the full configuration.
Trapezoid-shaped windows appear in the breezeway above a long couch and a side door. Nestled within the walls’ many windows, it often can feel like one is sitting outdoors.
Changing Views, Natural Light
“The design intentionally contrasts near and far views,” Catherine elaborated. “There are the intimate, close-up looks into the forest opposing the distant landscapes of the mountains and beyond. The dining room, reading nook, and library are tucked into the introspective side of the site, while the bedrooms and living room provide a generous and direct immersion into the layered landscape of meadows and mountains. It can be a welcoming, spacious place to host guests or a quiet, calm retreat for a family of three.”
Enhancing their views, Larry Weaner Landscape Associates restored the beautiful setting to an ecologically resilient, natural meadow habitat. “There’s something new to see with every season from the butterflies on the milkweed blooms to the bluejays in the snow,” said Rebecca. “Each room has an indoor-outdoor connection. The windows fall in line with the views and natural light.”
Catherine agreed and added, “These are huge windows. The wood-to-glass transitions appear seamless. We kept the operable windows low or to the side so you never have screens interrupting your main view.”
Traditional Craft and Modern Tools
“What looks beautiful takes skill, craft and technology. The home has the authenticity of natural materials and Old-World building construction with the efficiency of modern technology and advanced systems,” emphasized Rebecca.
“Achieving high performance outcomes in residential construction depends on precise control and the right team,” according to Bensonwood, the project’s offsite builder, located in New Hampshire. Combining decades of crafting custom homes with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, Bensonwood provided structural engineering, building envelope design support and prefabrication, and logistical coordination services for the project.
Jason Jones, owner of Ingrained Building Concepts, supervised the project’s design-build construction and installed all of Kolbe’s windows and doors. His company is a “full service contracting firm, specializing in architectural interiors, exterior elements, post and beam homes, kitchen and bathroom renovations, and anything that presents a challenge.”
In addition to the logistical challenges of designing and building during the pandemic, Rebecca reiterated that the home’s design involved “a highly coordinated drawing set. Jason is a finely skilled craftsman. He was on-site throughout the build. He, Kolbe and Bensonwood worked together to get every detail just right.”
Ensuring the building envelope provides the intended appearance and specified performance, the exterior is prefabricated in a controlled, indoor production facility by Bensonwood’s highly skilled and experienced workforce. Using advanced technology and precision engineering, its staff generates detailed 3D models. These connect directly to its CNC machinery, minimizing errors and unexpected changes during construction.
“The precision of the assembly was impressive,” echoed Catherine. “Through carefully coordinated shop drawings and review, and Bensonwood’s fabrication process, the pieces fit together like a Lego set. Once on site, Jason installed the windows with tolerances within a 1/4-inch for the most minimal of shim space and exceptionally tight joints. It is quite an accomplishment.”
Energy-efficient, Enduring Products
To achieve year-round comfort and energy-efficiency for the project’s northern climate zone, Kolbe’s windows and doors were paired with low-E glass and generous overhangs to control solar heat while maximizing daylighting and views. The operable windows are positioned for natural cross-ventilation during warm weather.
Demonstrating performance as specified, a blower door test was conducted on the completed project. This testing verifies an airtight, weathertight construction of the home’s exterior building components--an important step toward energy-efficiency and interior comfort. For the Hudson Valley Retreat, the blower door test results were equivalent to stringent Passive House standards, demonstrating exceptional thermal performance and balanced ventilation.
Rebecca noted the project’s material selection was grounded in building science with consideration for thermal performance and sustainability. Well versed with Kolbe’s broader product portfolio, this project was her first with the VistaLuxe WD LINE. She utilized this product’s narrow profiles to capitalize on the oversized openings and leveraged the wood to bring intrinsic warmth to the interior space.
Kolbe’s VistaLuxe WD LINE products were crafted from vertical grain Douglas Fir to match the home’s exposed timber framing, ceilings, interior doors and wood trim. The interior was finished in a natural, clear, low-VOC finish applied on site.
The exterior of the windows and doors was factory-finished in a Midnight color using a durable 70% fluoropolymer architectural coating. “No one wants to spend their time repainting and maintaining window frames. The painted exteriors take minimal maintenance and will last a long time,” acknowledged Rebecca.
“Through the years, I’ve used Kolbe’s windows and doors on a lot of projects. They make great products and have great service,” she said. “My go-to Kolbe contact is always responsive and willing to look at our designs, listen to the challenges we’re facing and help us accomplish our goals. As architects, that’s what we want; it’s what we need.”
“My go-to Kolbe contact is always responsive and willing to look at our designs, listen to the challenges we’re facing and help us accomplish our goals. As architects, that’s what we want; it’s what we need.”
Regionally Rooted, Sustainably Sensible
In a continued celebration of the region’s natural resources and skilled craftsmanship, Ticonderoga granite flooring enhances a welcoming entrance, adds warmth to the living room fireplace and extends outside to the carport wall, pool surround and landscaped steps.
Along with the natural material palette, other sustainable and high-performance features include:
- Sustainably sourced timber framing
- Thick, super-insulated walls
- Nontoxic bio-based cellulose insulation
- Natural, low- or no-VOC materials
- Minimal material waste with byproducts donated, composted or repurposed
- Geothermal renewable, all-electric energy
- Energy/heat recovery air ventilation
- Efficient mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems installed within an accessible service layer for flexibility with future updates
- Radiant-heat flooring
- Solar-ready roof
Succinctly summarizing the project, Rebecca concluded, “There were very high expectations for this project. It was a truly unique design. It was technically complicated. When it arrived in the field, it had to be correct and it was. Kolbe delivered. The homeowners love it.”
“There were very high expectations for this project. It was a truly unique design. It was technically complicated. When it arrived in the field, it had to be correct and it was. Kolbe delivered. The homeowners love it.”