Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Completion Date: 2004
Construction Cost: $270,000
Awards:
AIA, Jacksonville Chapter Merit Award 2011
On ½ acre of land at the water’s edge, the site fronts a country road that was once orange groves and is now residential. With a vast great oak canopy and tall pines, the direct sun cannot penetrate to the road.
The design concept was based on maximizing views, the resident’s daily life and constructability that would allow the owner to perform their own work incorporating the idea of “store bought” materials. In order to keep building costs below $100 s.f., the house construction and aesthetic were derived from typical building materials that could be purchased at the local building supply store or local commercial industry vendors.
The house plan is unconventionally stacked with living areas located on the second level and bedrooms on the first. The second floor, accessed by an exterior and interior stairway, contains the living room, dining room, kitchen and an office which have panoramic views of the adjacent tributary and surrounding woods. Locating the living areas on the second floor allows for a 14ft interior volume and south facing clerestory windows for maximum daylight exposure. The first floor contains the master bedroom, a guest room, two bathrooms and a laundry/storage room. The detached workshop accommodates the space, machinery and tools for vintage automotive restoration, woodworking and metals.