Clark Hill

Belmont, Massachusetts

The tragic loss of a recently renovated historic home in this dense Belmont neighborhood necessitated rebuilding the house. The owners saw an opportunity to depart from the traditional architecture to a more contemporary expression that would be informed by and more open to the site, yet respect the scale of the neighborhood. 

The tightness of the site required that the square footage be stacked vertically. Layered horizontal roof planes reduce the scale of this verticality while also defining and holding exterior space. 

The cantilevered roof planes extend into the landscape, framing views of the sky and interweaving with the site’s lush landscape. The ground floor of the house steps with the natural slope of the site while carefully placed windows between the horizontal planes link the interior to the site and bring in natural light from multiple directions.  A clean palette of Swiss quartzite stone, high performance aluminum windows, and weathered zinc is balanced by the warmth of cedar.