Latest progress on our Deschutes Residence.
DRW ARCHITECTURE BLOG
Deschutes Residence excavation
We last wrote about the Deschutes Residence in May, after a site visit to confirm the location on the property. Since then we have completed the construction documents, and obtained the building permits.
The house is being built by CS Construction in Bend, who forwarded us these photos of the excavations. This process is necessary to get enough depth for the foundations and crawlspace, while keeping the finished floor close to the average height of the exterior grade. Although the site is reasonably flat, there is a subtle slope across the length of the house. At one end the house will be built into the slope, with the finished floor being slightly below the level of the grade outside. At the other end, the grade will be built up to meet the garage slab. Splitting this difference avoids a large number of steps on the first floor, and keeps the building close to the ground.
After spending a good portion of this year thinking about the design of the house, it's exciting to see work begin on site. We look forward to updating our blog with the progress during construction.
Deschutes Residence
We are currently working on the design for a new house in rural Deschutes County, near Bend. The clients are good friends of drw, who we previously designed a house for when they lived in Portland. Since then, they have relocated to central Oregon, where they recently purchased a plot of land. They approached us last year to design a new house for the site, to replace an existing manufactured house on the site. The design makes reference to the agrarian landscape of Central Oregon, with references in its form to the graceful barns found in the area. The 1st floor walls will be stucco, with areas of cedar siding; and the second floor cedar siding. The roof will primarily be slate, with the dormers accented in standing seam metal.
West Elevation
On a recent trip to Bend, we visited the site with the clients to stake out the location of the house on the site.
The site is surrounded by mature juniper trees to the east, which will remain after construction. To the west, the house will face onto the owner's agricultural land, with views towards the Cascades.
