Into the Woods
A home in Kent, Connecticut, looks as though it grew naturally from the stones and trees around it that sat untouched for centuries on the rambling site.
The couple who live in this house dreamt of a small cabin in the woods. And then, says the wife simply, “It grew.”
Perhaps that was inevitable given the couple’s lifestyle. With five children and ten grandchildren, any house the couple built on their forty-five acres in Kent, Connecticut, had to be big enough to accommodate large gatherings.
Whatever its size, the homeowners knew they wanted a house that fit naturally into its wooded site. “We wanted to make it look as though it had been there for a long time, and that people had added onto it over the years,” says the wife.
In an example of true collaboration, architect Lydia Straus-Edwards and landscape architect Wesley Lent spent many hours at the site. Having joined forces on a number of projects over the years, the two professionals have worked out a system, says Straus-Edwards. “Early on, we pack a picnic lunch and go to the site and sit there and lay out the house,” she says. “It’s fun, but it’s also extraordinarily important because the house and the site really have to complement each other. If the house doesn’t work with the land, there’s nothing you can do to fix it.”
ARCHITECTURE
Lydia Straus-Edwards
INTERIOR DESIGN
Bartley Johnstone, B. Johnstone Interiors
CONSTRUCTION
Frank Fisher
LANDSCAPE
Wesley Lent
PRODUCED BY
Stacy Kunstel
Photo Galleries
The couple who live in this house dreamt of a small cabin in the woods. And then, says the wife simply, “It grew.”
Perhaps that was inevitable given the couple’s lifestyle. With five children and ten grandchildren, any house the couple built on their forty-five acres in Kent, Connecticut, had to be big enough to accommodate large gatherings.
Whatever its size, the homeowners knew they wanted a house that fit naturally into its wooded site. “We wanted to make it look as though it had been there for a long time, and that people had added onto it over the years,” says the wife.
In an example of true collaboration, architect Lydia Straus-Edwards and landscape architect Wesley Lent spent many hours at the site. Having joined forces on a number of projects over the years, the two professionals have worked out a system, says Straus-Edwards. “Early on, we pack a picnic lunch and go to the site and sit there and lay out the house,” she says. “It’s fun, but it’s also extraordinarily important because the house and the site really have to complement each other. If the house doesn’t work with the land, there’s nothing you can do to fix it.”
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