The L-shaped plan of this 5,300-square-foot home serves the dual function of grounding the structure into its steep hillside site, and directing the house towards nearby Bald Mountain, emphasizing the owners’ affection for the forested Sun Valley landscape. An elemental material palette further relates the home to its natural surroundings, while the restrained footprint leaves as much of the landscape undisturbed as possible.
Architect: Olson Kundig
Location: Ketcham, Idaho
Status: Built; Completed 2013
Project Size: 5,300 sq ft
Project Team: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal; Todd Matthes and Mark Olthoff, AIA, LEED® AP, Project Managers; Debbie Kennedy, LEED® AP ID+C, Interior Design
Contractor: Lee Gilman Builders, Inc.
Photographer: Benjamin Benschneider
This home has a thin profile that allows for maximum passive natural ventilation and lighting. Low gabled roofing further minimizes the home’s visibility, while also working to reduce the amount of heat gain in the summer. Exterior decks on several levels of the home provide spaces for this active family to enjoy the outdoors no matter the season.
A large, three-story detached fireplace of board-formed concrete anchors the home on its west end, contrasting in texture and material to the home’s hot-rolled steel and cedar exterior siding. Steel details throughout the interior, including several Tom Kundig Collection custom furniture and hardware pieces, complement the dark oak and concrete floors. This Olson Kundig residence was one of the first projects to employ the TK Collection comprehensively throughout the home, creating a cohesive interior environment that celebrates the moments when the home’s residents engage physically with the spaces they inhabit.
OLSON KUNDIG
Olson Kundig is a collaborative global design practice whose work expands the context of built and natural landscapes. Led by five owners, the firm’s work can be found in more than fifteen countries on five continents, with projects ranging from cultural and museum projects to exhibition design, commercial and mixed-use design, private and multi-family residential, hospitality projects, places of worship, interior design, product design and landscape design.
