The house of architect
The cottage is made entirely of wood, inside and out, and the natural self-sufficiency of this material became one of the key themes of the design. The structure is also made of wood. Of course it is made from local wood, still the most affordable building material in Russia.
The cottage’s layout is in the shape of an elongated rectangle, and the architect has placed it crosswise and in the middle of the rectangular plot, setback from the fence at the minimum distance dictated by standards. In this way, the ten acres are visually split into two non mutually-dependent areas: a small front garden and a yard in the back. Facing the cottage is a small guest house and a tidy tool shed camouflaged by a fence.
Photography by © Dmitry Chebanenko The main house has two floors, but from the majority of perspectives this cannot be seen. This is due to the fact that almost all of the top-level areas are illuminated by skylights, while the slope of the gable roof is minimal. Under the overhang on the main facade, the completely blank wooden surfaces are visually striking upon entering the plot of land, and even more so from the street, creating a feeling of a totally introverted volume. Also magnifying this image are the shutters, which for all windows are made from the same wood as the facades, and painted in the same light gray color.
Photography by © Dmitry Chebanenko
The shutters snugly close all openings. In such an enclosed form the house would have ...