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Whitten House in Oregon by PIQUE LLC

The Whitten House by PIQUE LLC is located in central Oregon on a remote 10-acre site of beautiful sage and juniper trees.

From the architects:

Conceived as two simple cubes in the landscape, one box for sleeping and one for living, the structure offers two distinct means of interaction with the landscape. The larger sleeping box is low & burrowed into earth, while the living box floats above, hovering just at treetop level. East & South orientations are exploited for views as well as passive solar orientation of the home.

Exterior materials were chosen for durability and fire resistance. All rainwater will be harvested & stored for landscaping or fire fighting purposes. The future pool will provide an additional margin of wildfire safety as a usable body of water on the remote site.

Evacuated tube solar water heaters will efficiently provide most of the heating for the home through in-floor radiant tubing. The building’s narrow profile and extensive glazing combined with the regions low humidity allow for passive cooling of the home.

Initially tied to the power grid, the structure has provisions to eventually expand its p.v. array to the point that the home may be taken off grid entirely, and become completely self sufficient, with no other utilities entering or exiting the site.

Designers: PIQUE LLC
Contractor: R&H Construction
Structural Engineering: Elemental Engineering

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.