Pigeon Creek Residence

The Pigeon Creek Residence is located in western Michigan in a densely forested site overlooking the Pigeon Creek wetland. Designed for a young family with 2 children, the building form is shaped by the owner's desire for a distinctly modern home which felt warm, open, and comfortable, and has a strong connection to the outdoors. As one enters the site, the drive takes a serpentine bend and one crosses a subtle mark on the landscape left by a railroad over 100 years ago. Moving north on the drive parallel to the abandoned railroad grade, the home is revealed in the distance as it slides into sight out of the forest. 

 

Recalling the rail cars that once traversed the site, the main form of the house is a 20' x 80' tall slender box. At the south end of the box are the eating and kitchen spaces. Separated from the active portion of the house by the nursery and stairway functions, the master bedroom suite to the north becomes a tranquil retreat overlooking the wetland and forest. 

 

Flanking the main volume of the house is the living area and service functions. Blurring the lines between the architecture and the environment; the living area is anchored by a double-sided fireplace built with concrete block colored to match the bark of Beech trees growing on the site, and a 24' sliding glass door opening to the outdoors. 

 

With a form inspired by a long abandoned railroad, the Pigeon Creek Residence stands as a beacon of modern architecture melded with the warmth and character of western Michigan's woodlands.