The narrow and steep wooded site off Cuernavaca offered opportunities to explore how the house sits on the hillside, responds to the natural environment, and how it is approached by vehicle. 

A quiet ledge about 10 vertical feet below the road offered a natural place for the house and permits soothing views through the canopies of the trees below to the bottom of a dry-creek canyon. The warm, wood-clad living room roof dynamically pulls upward toward the street and creates a carport . The roof directs the approaching owner’s view through the living room and trees and across the canyon — connecting the exterior approach by automobile to the living area and central experience of the house.

This sustainable dwelling includes active and passive solar-design, SIPS-panel roofs, and heat-reducing thermal mass retention walls. Originally conceived as a speculative house, this three-bedroom, 2,200 square foot home was eventually created for a young couple, their pets, and their eclectic and busy lifestyles.