Chesapeake Bay Residence

Three separate buildings accommodate the three sleeping areas, a loft for working and living, dining, and kitchen spaces in this weekend home on the Chesapeake Bay. Patterned after the barn-like dwellings of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, each building is a rectangular prism of marine plywood with a sloping metal roof, painted cinder block, and glass. Through the use of floor to ceiling glass walls (in some cases 20 feet high), a maximum amount of light is brought into the house from exposure to the west Bay side. Toward the land side, privacy is preserved by using a more opaque material (painted cinder block). Set far back from the shoreline and clustered together (one askew to another), the buildings create a courtyard on one side, yet leaves the vast surrounding meadow untouched.