Mazama House in Methow Valley, Washington Contemporary Home, Washington Architecture, Images
Mazama House
Methow Valle Residence: American Residential Development ? design by Finne Architects
page updated 2 Oct 2016 with new photos ; 20 May 2015
Mazama House in Washington
Location: Methow Valley, Washington, USA
Design: Finne Architects

The Mazama House is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle.

The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization.

A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns.
Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns.

The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end.

The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as...