Casa del Basalto

The site

The plot falls eleven metres from the road to the tree line. Rather than level it, the house steps down in three plates, each one a single room wide, so every bedroom and the long living hall face the lake and the low winter sun.

We spent a year on the slope before drawing: one visit each season, recording where snow drifts, where meltwater runs and how long the light stays on the southern face in January.

Material

The walls are solid basalt, cut on site and laid without visible mortar. Inside, the same stone is honed to a soft matte finish, and the floors are oiled larch from the valley. Window frames are bronze and will darken with the stone.