Designed by Paul Hirzel, The Canyon House. The owners (Ken Campbell, a professor of veterinary Physiology at Washington State University and his spouse Jean Campbell, an attorney) wanted a year-round retreat “to cultivate the spiritual aspects in the trinity of human, fish, and river” (their words).  A place to write, sleep, talk, eat, read, fish, cleanse, garden and wander??. away from their work in Pullman, Washington ? 50 miles from the site. Also, they wanted a wilderness place for their grandchildren to visit.
Photography: Art Grice
Site:  40 acres on the southern side of the Clearwater River canyon – 10 miles upstream from Lewiston, Idaho.

Intentions:  The retreat program was divided into two buildings: “the bunkhouse” is settled into a ravine along a seasonal stream and “the studio house” is perched on a finger ridge where a slope of bunch grass and Idaho fescue meet a Ponderosa Pine forest about 300 feet above the Clearwater River.  The program was separated to encourage wanderings on the site and to create a triad of destinations…. the third destination is a perfectly shaped basalt knoll that provides a commanding observation point of the canyon. We resisted siting the house there, as it seemed appropriate to let it remain an “outside place”.  The location of the studio house was determined by where you would have the best fish sighting. To use the owner’s words, ?to mark the holding spot of st...