US architecture firm Michael Doty Associates has embedded this blackened-wood residence into its mountainous surroundings in rural Idaho.

Called Shaw Mesa residence, the 3,850-square-foot (358-square-metre) property is located on a site in between the Sawtooth and White Clouds Mountains, which form part of the Rocky Mountains in the western United States.

Michael Doty Associates excavated part of the inclined site to make way for the house. The roof gently slopes up towards views to the mountains in the west and overhangs on this side to rest on steel columns.
Because of the remote location, near to the small town of Stanley, the architects wanted to minimise the need to bring or carry away building materials. When the foundations of the home were dug, the stones were reused to build retaining walls on the property.
"The rock within the excavated material was screened from the native soil and used in the gabion site walls," said Michael Doty in a project description. "Native grasses and natural landscape features help to soften the transition between the sagebrush and grass-covered hillside to the house."

The rest of the walls are clad in timber planks, which are charred black using the traditional Japanese technique known as Shou Sugi Ban to make them resistant to rot and fire. A black corrugated metal roof completes the home's monochrome exterior, with a paler wood lining the underside.

The architects split the residence into three volu...