![House in Milan / Rangr Studio + Charlet Design - Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5304/1c42/e8e4/4ec6/9a00/00e1/large_jpg/rangr-milan1.jpg?1392778288)
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Architects: Charlet Design, Rangr Studio
- Year: 2012
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Photographs:Mikiko Kikuyama
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Contractor: J.T.McManus Inc., Terry Haviland
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Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates, Nat Oppenheimer
![House in Milan / Rangr Studio + Charlet Design - Forest](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5304/1d3b/e8e4/4ec6/9a00/00e9/large_jpg/rangr-milan13.jpg?1392778545)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5304/1c47/e8e4/4ee8/ac00/00aa/large_jpg/Cross_section.jpg?1392778282)
After years of renting a weekend house in the area, our clients found land they loved and asked us to design a weekend and summer home. The clients were particularly fond of one of their previous rentals — a chicken coop turned into a small house — and that became a departure point for our design.
![House in Milan / Rangr Studio + Charlet Design - Sofa, Table, Lighting, Chair, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5304/1d17/e8e4/4ef6/8300/00c9/large_jpg/rangr-milan11.jpg?1392778510)
Within a strict budget, the design took advantage of a steep slope in the hillside, using the foundation as a retaining wall on the high point of the hill and opening up the lower story with doors and windows. The house looks small and humble from the street side, with a mostly opaque wall creating privacy, but opens up to a deck and stone terrace, the facade punctured with windows looking to the Catskill Mountains.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5304/1c9a/e8e4/4ef6/8300/00c7/large_jpg/Ground_Floor_Plan.jpg?1392778363)
The house contains four bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a large living / kitchen / dining area, and a family room. A year after it was completed, the clients added a pool and cabana in a meadow down a path to the woods.