Richard Leplastrier

The site of this small house is a flooded sunken river valley. The gentle climate is nurtured by the Pacific Ocean and the warm east coast current, which controls the mild subtropical nature. The house continues a history of simple living on the site, which I suspect has continued for thousands of years — small shells that litter the place lie testament to that fact. The form of the building is simple — its central core room restrains a broad cantilever roof that surrounds the building, the lack of columns allowing the line of the landscape to continue unbroken. Being inside the house is like sitting under a strong overhanging tree.

The house exemplifies the idea of architecture as a vessel and a cradle for the family. Our family of five lives comfortably in this one room. The small room we inhabit, in turn, inhabits a greater room whose walls are cliffs and floors the tidal level of the bay that rises and falls nearly two metres every six hours. Because of the isolation of the site, all materials had to be brought in by water. As a consequence, all structures had to be lightweight and easily assembled. The house was built by Jeffrey Broadfield and friends in 1994.