Spending time inside an architectural home built into the landscape like Steven Harris Architects’ Bedford Quarry House quietly reveals what the site holds. Perched on a towering cliff above an abandoned quarry-turned-lake, the original site “didn’t have a lot of real estate appeal, but when you’re here, you have no idea that there is anything within a mile of you,” says Steven Harris, director at Steven Harris Architects.
Entering inside an architectural home built into the landscape, one moves from the driveway into a forecourt, which is enclosed and doesn’t give too much away. The floor plan is essentially an L-shape, one wing contains the entrance, main living area, a little room to watch television, a study and a guestroom, while the other wing houses the primary bedroom, children’s rooms, garage and gym.
While most of the walls facing outwards are floor-to-ceiling glass, in this case, the views inside an architectural home built into the landscape aren’t the first thing that comes into view. “Instead, you have to move through the house. I think one of the functions of architecture is to induce movement and to make different places where you spend different times of the day or different times of the year,” says Harris.
Similarly, the glass house is designed so that it becomes part of the view. “It becomes a part of the outside. Very often, the reason one frames a view is to exclude things outside of it. You don’t really want to see the house next door. In this case, it’s a kind of panoramic view. There isn’t a bad shot to be had here. So more than anything, we probably framed solid pieces that interrupted that view,” says Harris.
When inside an architectural home built into the landscape, there are countless moments that link to the outdoors. The landscape design by David Kelly, the landscape partner of affiliated studio RRP, is subtle without appearing plain and works to elevate the site. “The idea of the house is when you have a site that’s extraordinary, what you need to do is make more of it and stay out of the way, not do something that is so hysterical that it calls so much attention to itself, that it makes the site less or other,” notes Harris
Typically, the material palette inside an architectural home built into the landscape is quiet and muted. Wood and masonry dominate, complemented by a stone floor. “If you look out across at the trees, the wood windows almost collapse in space and become like the trunk of another tree,” says Harris. Tones and furnishings are neutral and pared back so that one’s eye is drawn towards the outdoors.
For Harris, there is not a favourite room or moment. Rather, “it’s about how the house sits in its site and how it takes advantage of this extraordinary place,” says Harris.
00:00 – Introduction to the Architectural Home Built into the Landscape
01:11 – Original Renovation Brief
01:53 – Layout of the Home
02:27 – Walkthrough of the Home
03:14 – Delaying Gratification
04:16 – Framing the Views
05:38 – The Landscape
06:29 – The Extraordinary Site
07:03 – The Material Palette
08:12 – Proud Moments
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Architecture by Steven Harris Architects.
Interior design and landscape design by RRP.
Build by Berkshire Wilton Partners.
Engineering by Becht.
Filmed and edited by O&Co. Homes.
Production by The Local Production.
Location: Bedford, Massachusetts, United States.
The Local Project acknowledges the traditional territories and homelands of the Indigenous peoples in the United States. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our respective countries and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
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