In 2022, we were approached by a couple—visual artist Joan Grubin and her husband, a filmmaker—to design a small (approximately 800 sq ft) guest house built to Passive House standards, with the feel of a small cabin on their property. The existing property includes a main house and a barn used as a workshop and garage. The concept was to intentionally avoid matching any existing buildings and to create a play of three distinct architectural styles on the property. The cottage, situated next to the barn, is the first structure visible from the driveway. The tall eastern elevation welcomes visitors, while the sloping roof guides them toward the main house, which is lower and nestled among trees. The front (south) side of the house features most of the windows, offering views of the orchard and meadow while maximizing solar gain in winter. The dining area’s window seat offers ample space for dining and a great spot to enjoy the view. The southern elevation is shaded from the intense summer sun by a pergola, which will support vines and create a shaded outdoor sitting area.
Smaller windows on the North elevation connect the interior with the wooded area in the back of the house.
Color Choices
Joan Grubin, and the use of color is essential to her not only for her artwork but also in her lived environment. The colors used in the cabin reflect her artwork (shown below).
"Color is life. Color is light. Color is context. In my work, I am totally absorbed by what happens when putting one color next to another.”
Color in the interior is tricky, mysterious, surprising - always a combination of pigment plus available light. Deep rich colors in smaller spaces can be thrilling. How one color reflects onto another wall is often a revelation. An example: I painted a small upstairs bedroom with big windows a pale mint green. The cumulative effect of the walls reflecting off each other made for a deep, strange radiance, soft but hallucinatory. Looking up from below with the door open, the bedroom emits an incandescent green glow, that even leaks out of the bedroom onto the stairway walls. It’s taken years to dare to get very experimental with color in the interior.”
