Tree house / Sander Architects

Jan 2009

By Nico Saieh — Filed under: Houses , Selected , Sander Architects, Stairs, USA, Wood

Architects: Sander Architects
Location: Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Project Year: 2002-2004
Construction Year: 2004-2006
Photographs: Sander Architects

The design and building of Tree House was a labor of love. I designed this house for my sister, her first house. The death of our father allowed her the funds to build it.

Tree House sits on a cul-de-sac at the end of a mature subdivision in Wilmington, DE, USA. It is filled with century-old deciduous trees, which form a magnificent canopy 150 feet above the site. A stream runs around the house, and because of certain restrictions of the Army Corps of Engineers and because of the potential for flooding, the buildable area is quite small. This induced us to design a vertical house, with raised Living Room and Master Suite. These spaces give one the feeling of being in the trees.

The stairs inside were fabricated at the performance stage shop where my sister works. They are made of 1/2″ aluminum plate, with two treads in each unit. Shades of purple set the color scheme: dark aubergine curtains, a grey-purple stone for the wall which encloses the fireplace and media storage. Horizontal windows encircle the house, providing select views into the landscape. In contrast to these small views, a great wrapping window in the double-height Living Room provides a dominant diagonal focus for the house, and leads views into the deep woods to the northeast.

A roof deck provides a view in all directions from a height of 35 feet in the air.

: garage floor plan

: lower floor plan

: upper floor plan

: roof plan

16 comments »

Contemporary Art says:

This one feels strange to me for some reason. Maybe something about the proportion. I like the raised deck area and the extremely long spiral staircase, but the gestalt of the thing just doesn’t hit me quite right. I’ll be interested to hear what others think of it.
–
http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com

# January 15, 2009 at 10:15

Vasin says:

I agree with you the proportion a bit off.

# July 8, 2009 at 06:52

Rokas says:

I like the exterior more than the interior.It is more”honest”.Clean,simple,”wood in the woods”.The interior is more “messy”…There’s the feeling,that the house(exterior,plans..)was designed by one person,and the interior-by another.
It must be fun to sit between the branches on the roof:)

# January 15, 2009 at 14:35

calisurfergurl says:

exterior is a nice economical and restrained [but indisciplined] take on the old gwathmey houses. the interior aside from the stair, is less successful with silly angled walls and a lack of a spatial confidence. the doors to the office when the master sinks are open.

# January 16, 2009 at 11:01

ThatBozGuy says:

This unit was recently featured on HGTVs Whats With That House

# January 16, 2009 at 19:08

Wayne says:

How do you, safely, change the light blubs?

Look at the track lighting in the photo with the the fireplace. Who would want to be on a ladder that tall?

# February 18, 2009 at 16:15

tony says:

what a ridiculous comment

# July 11, 2009 at 02:12

Peter says:

This shares a problem I see with a lot of contemporary American residential architecture. The inside is a little bit of a mess…materials/colors/forms. It’s as if you’re not earning your keep unless you busy things up a bit. From the plan, you wouldn’t assume this kind of slightly spastic interior.

I get the feeling they’re trying to do a L. Kahn thing with those aluminum corner windows, but it’s doesn’t feel right to me.

Give me spartan Swiss interiors any day of the week over this.

Otherwise, I think it’s interesting work for the States.

# March 6, 2009 at 05:41

evap says: