Hudson Valley Residence

Inspired by the barns and other structures of the encompassing agricultural valley, this glass-and-wood-paneled home in the Catskill Mountains defies simple categorization. The style, to be sure, is modern, with a geometry of right angles and clean lines. Yet, like a poem or a piece of music, the house bears subtleties—shifts and gradations in texture, color and rhythm—that can only be fully appreciated over time. A silvery wash to both the cedar exterior and the walnut floors, for example, creates a monotonality of varying shades, depending on the light and time of day. Combined with floor-to-ceiling windows on facing sides of the central portion of the house, these neutral tones allow the outside to define the airy space within. At the same time, a 4-foot module articulated by vertical protrusions in the windows, doors and exterior wall panels imbues a certain melody to the design. Running counter to the melody, and parallel to the north-south ridge line, is the horizontal grain of the kitchen cabinetry. Further crosscurrents come from an east-west paving of slender, mottled-gray Italian brick extending from a section of the interior out to a patio in the back.