Architecture: Outdoor Rooms

Architect Visit: Eliot Lee and Eun Sun Chun in Napa

Eliot Lee and Eun Sun Chun, architects living in New York (he's a partner at Steven Harris Architects, she's a partner at212box), collaborated on this rammed-earth compound in the Napa Valley for Lee's parents. Before embarking on the design process, they consulted with another design couple—Eric and Silvina Blasen, of Blasen Landscape Architecture in San Anselmo, California—to establish an integrated plan. The resulting structure is a quiet study in restraint (and a winner of an award from the ASLA); see more images at the American Association of Landscape Architects.

Outdoors: Reed Roof Shading

In the Mediterranean, reed awnings are a common fixture, allowing light to filter through but providing plenty of shade. Made from fresh water reed (a renewable resource that grows abundantly along river banks) woven together with vinyl-coated wire, Reed Fencing from Backyard X-Scapes is available at many garden supply stores as well as Home Depot.

Above: The Long Island summer cottage of Harriet McDonald Maxwell and Andrew Corrie, proprietors of Canvas (see today's Shopper's Diary: Canvas Home Store Online), features an outdoor shade pavilion made with a simple bamboo frame.

Above: Photography by Adriano Bacchella.

 

Above: Backyard X-Scapes Reed Fencing, 6 feet high by 16 feet long; $23.97 per roll from Home Depot.

Outdoors: Screened Porch Roundup

As summer slips away, we find ourselves thinking about how screened porches extend the seasons. Here's a roundup of some favorites.

Above: A porch at the Cloud 9 ranch in Texas by Lake Flato Architects.

Above: A screened dining porch in the Napa house of San Francisco designer Ken Fulk; via House Beautiful.

Above: A sleeping porch in the Sullivan County, New York, cabin of Scott Newkirk; to create a similar look, consult Steal This Look: Summer Sleeping Porch.

Above: Two views of a modern screened porch by architect David Salmela in Wisconsin; via Dwell.

Above: Iconic Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius' own house in Lincoln, Massachusetts, incorporated New England details, including a screened porch.

Above: A screened porch in Westchester featured on Martha Stewart.

Above two photos: A screened porch in New York by Platt Dana Architects.

Above: The screened porch in our 1860s mansard-roofed Wellfleet house.

Above: Two views of the screened porches at the Claverack Homesteads, designed by Dennis Wedlick.

Architect Visit: Platt Dana Porch Addition in Columbia County

New York–based Platt Dana Architects designed this porch addition in Columbia County, New York, creating an airy, indoor/outdoor lounging and dining area. We especially like the rustic wood interior paired with black window frames and a trio of Cecilie Manz–designed black Caravaggio Pendant Lights (available at Y Lighting).