Inside A Mansion Built On The Edge Of An Abandoned Quarry | Unique Spaces | Architectural Digest

Summary

Architect Stephen Harris discusses his design for the Bedford Quarry House, built on a unique site within an hour of New York City. The property, once a functioning quarry, now features a home that blends with its natural surroundings, utilizing the site's dramatic stone walls and water elements. Harris explains how the design takes inspiration from the natural landscape, aiming for a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. The house is crafted to evoke a sense of tranquility and discovery, with attention to detail that subtly reveals more with time.

Takeaways

• 🌿 The Bedford Quarry house is built on a challenging site, atop a 40-foot tall stone wall, offering a unique geological and architectural opportunity.
• 🏞️ The location, once a functioning quarry filled with feldspar and rose quartz, was abandoned due to water accumulation, but the site's natural beauty remains intact.
• 🏠 The architect, Stephen Harris, aimed to create a design that harmonized with the environment, incorporating the natural elements of the landscape, including water and vegetation.
• 🌳 The house was designed with the flow of light, wind, and daily life in mind, carefully considering how the family would use the space throughout the day.
• 🔀 The design incorporates the concept of liminal spaces, creating a sequence of reveals, as visitors gradually discover different aspects of the house and its surroundings.
• 📐 The architecture induces movement by offering varied views from different rooms, encouraging exploration throughout the house.
• 🍽️ The house features a practical design, including a back kitchen for functional purposes, allowing the family to maintain a clean and organized living space.
• 🛏️ The primary bedroom and bathroom are designed with comfort and practicality in mind, offering scenic views and thoughtful details to enhance daily routines.
• 🌿 The landscape design by David Kelly complements the house, creating a harmonious blend of vegetation and rock, with features like a waterfall to enhance the atmosphere of tranquility.
• 🎯 The architect’s ultimate goal was to make the house feel effortless and inevitable, blending seamlessly with its environment while offering comfort, serenity, and subtlety.

Q & A

What is the Bedford Quarry house and where is it located?

The Bedford Quarry house is a residential project designed by architect Stephen Harris. It is located within an hour of New York but gives a feeling of being much further away, like Montana.

What makes the site of the Bedford Quarry house unique?

The site is unique because it was a functioning quarry, featuring natural elements like feldspar and rose quartz. It was abandoned when water was discovered, creating a challenging yet beautiful site with water and dense vegetation.

What was the condition of the original house on the site?

There was a different house on the site before, which had fallen into disrepair. The architect and owners decided to start from scratch, designing a completely new structure.

How did the concept of ‘liminal condition’ influence the design?

The concept of a 'liminal condition,' or transitional spaces, was central to the design. As you approach the house, the design teases glimpses of the structure, and then you lose sight of it before it reveals itself again as you move closer.

How does the house integrate with the natural environment?

The house is carefully positioned to respond to the natural elements of the site, such as the light, wind, and terrain. The design also emphasizes a relationship with the water and the surrounding quarry walls.

What architectural elements induce movement in the house?

Movement is encouraged by the varying views from different rooms. Instead of giving the same view from every room, the house reveals new vistas as one moves through it, keeping the experience dynamic.

What is unique about the garage design in the Bedford Quarry house?

The garage door is designed with a single pane of glass inspired by airplane hangars. It integrates seamlessly with the rest of the house, allowing a view through both sides.

What is the concept behind the interior design of the main living space?

The main living space transitions from intimate, cave-like areas to more open, Promontory-like spaces that reveal stunning views of the quarry, dock, and waterfall.

How does the house achieve a balance between interior and exterior spaces?

The design blurs the boundary between inside and outside. The landscape is treated as part of the house, with carefully positioned terraces, window openings, and views that make the outdoors feel integrated with the interior.

What is the intention behind the subdued nature of the architecture and interior design?

The architect's goal was for the house to appear effortless and inevitable, avoiding a 'wow' factor. The design aims for subtlety, where visitors gradually notice the depth and complexity of the house, much like rewatching a movie or rereading a book to discover more layers.

Outlines

00:00

🏠 Building on a Quarry: A Unique Architectural Challenge

Architect Stephen Harris discusses the design of the Bedford Quarry house, situated on top of a 40-foot stone wall. The site, a former feldspar and quartz quarry that was abandoned due to flooding, presented a unique geological challenge. Harris views such difficult sites as opportunities, appreciating the natural beauty of the trees and water. The new house, designed for a young family, was meticulously planned based on how they live, with considerations for light, wind, and daily activity. The approach to the house is deliberately planned to tease the viewer with glimpses of the home before arriving in a courtyard.

05:00

🏞️ Spaces Between: Architecture that Encourages Movement

Harris emphasizes the importance of inducing movement through architecture. If every room has the same view, there is little incentive to move. He highlights subtle design elements that create visual connections, like the lines in rocks mirrored in a rug. The design includes a back kitchen to hide mess during entertaining, and a media room, humorously called the 'polka dot room.' The model of the house illustrates how its two main volumes connect, with the public spaces located in a dramatic setting, overlooking the quarry.

10:04

🌳 Embracing Nature: Thoughtful Integration of Landscape and Architecture

Harris explains how the house balances nature and architecture. The primary bedroom offers stunning views of the quarry and waterfall, with functional design elements enhancing daily rituals like dressing or brushing teeth. A sedum roof absorbs sound, enhancing the tranquility of the space. The landscape, designed by David Kelly, emphasizes local vegetation, making it appear as though it naturally emerged from the quarry. The house’s brick wall, with its irregular texture and a skylight above, adds warmth and character to the interiors, while children's rooms offer privacy and comfort.

🌿 Seamless Integration: Blurring the Lines Between Indoors and Outdoors

The architecture aims to eliminate the boundary between the inside and outside. By positioning the pool and other amenities throughout the site, the design encourages people to explore and appreciate both the quarry and the surrounding woodland. Harris draws inspiration from Oscar Niemeyer's work, emphasizing the effortless integration of landscape and architecture. He aspires for the house to appear natural and inevitable, hoping that guests will find serenity and comfort without being overtly impressed by the architecture, instead discovering the depth of the design over time.

Keywords

💡Quarry

A quarry is a large, open-pit excavation site where stones like feldspar and rose quartz are extracted. In the video, the Bedford Quarry House is built on a former quarry site that was abandoned due to the discovery of water. This history of the site plays a crucial role in shaping the design and layout of the house, as the house integrates the natural stone formations and water elements from the old quarry.

💡Liminal condition

A liminal condition refers to an in-between state or transitional phase. In the video, the architect mentions this concept in relation to the design approach, where the house offers glimpses of different spaces as one moves through it, creating a sense of transition and progression. This liminality enhances the experience of moving through the house, offering moments of reveal and discovery.

💡Promontory

A promontory is a high point of land that extends over a body of water or land, providing expansive views. The concept of the promontory is essential in the video, as the architect contrasts it with the 'cave' in describing how different parts of the house create a dynamic between open, exposed spaces and more intimate, enclosed areas. This contrast defines the spatial experience within the house.

💡Reveal and arrival

The architect uses the concept of 'reveal and arrival' to describe how the design of the house gradually exposes different views and elements to visitors. As one approaches the house, different parts of the structure and the surrounding landscape are revealed in stages, creating a sense of anticipation and discovery. This calibrated sequence enhances the emotional impact of the architecture.

💡Waterfall

The waterfall is a natural feature of the quarry site, and it plays a significant role in the sensory experience of the house. The sound of the waterfall provides a tranquil ambiance, masking other noises and creating a peaceful environment. The architect emphasizes the importance of this feature in creating a serene atmosphere, both visually and acoustically, for the residents.

💡Cave and Promontory

The 'cave and promontory' concept refers to the two architectural strategies for designing on sloped sites. The cave represents enclosed, intimate spaces, while the promontory represents open, expansive views. In the Bedford Quarry House, the architect balances these two approaches by creating areas that feel cozy and protected, as well as spaces that open up to dramatic vistas, such as the cantilevered corner overlooking the quarry.

💡Landscape integration

Landscape integration refers to the way the architecture blends with and complements the surrounding natural environment. In this video, the architect emphasizes how the house was designed to be responsive to the site's natural features, such as the quarry, water, and vegetation. The house appears as if it naturally belongs in the landscape, with exterior spaces like the pool and terraces strategically placed to enhance interaction with the environment.

💡Brick wall

The brick wall is a key architectural element in the house's design, symbolizing continuity and movement. It runs through the building and extends beyond it, connecting the interior and exterior spaces. The choice of irregular brick gives texture to the wall, contributing to the tactile and visual qualities of the house. This wall acts as a guiding element in the spatial flow of the house.

💡Effortless and inevitable

These adjectives describe the architect's ultimate ambition for the project. He strives to create architecture that feels natural and unavoidable in its design, as though it could not have been built any other way. The goal is for the house to appear as a seamless part of the landscape, where visitors are not immediately awed by its architecture but instead feel a gradual appreciation for its subtle design choices.

💡Public and private spaces

The distinction between public and private spaces is carefully managed in the design of the Bedford Quarry House. Public spaces, like the main living and dining areas, are open and connected to the outdoors, providing social areas for the family. Private spaces, such as the bedrooms and bathrooms, offer more intimate and secluded environments. The spatial organization reflects traditional architectural hierarchies but adapts them to a modern family’s lifestyle.

Highlights

Architect Stephen Harris designed the Bedford Quarry House, a unique home built on a challenging site, previously a feldspar and rose quartz quarry.

The quarry was abandoned when they hit water, which now plays a significant role in the house's design, integrating the natural water features into the living experience.

The house is located within an hour of New York but feels remote, offering a blend of natural beauty and seclusion.

Harris views the difficult site as an 'extraordinary geological opportunity,' emphasizing how the house responds to the natural terrain.

The house’s design uses a sequence of 'reveal and arrival,' creating moments where parts of the house are deliberately hidden before being unveiled, enhancing the experience of moving through the space.

One of the home’s main features is a 40-foot tall stone wall, which the house is built on top of, blending into the landscape.

The design incorporates a unique garage with a single pane glass door inspired by airplane hangars, maintaining transparency and connection with the surroundings.

The home’s staircase does not conform to conventional geometry, adding an artistic, sculptural element to the space while linking different levels of the house.

The main public floor includes a cozy family space with a kitchen, dining area, and sitting room, strategically positioned to offer views of the quarry and surrounding landscape.

The house employs a 'cave and promontory' approach, where some rooms feel intimate and enclosed, while others open up to expansive views of the quarry and water.

A corner of the house is cantilevered over the edge of the quarry, providing breathtaking views of the water and a sheer rock face, reminiscent of the Palisades.

A secondary kitchen, or 'back kitchen,' is included to keep the main kitchen tidy after meals, allowing for functionality and ease during family gatherings.

The house's design incorporates elements from classical architecture, including references to the palazzo style, with bedrooms located on upper floors for privacy and protection.

A sedum roof, which changes with the seasons, enhances the house's eco-friendliness and connection to the natural environment.

The home emphasizes blending the boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces, with the landscape serving as a 'foreground' that extends the living experience beyond the walls of the house.

Transcripts

foreign

I wanted to make sure that the materials

the palette the character of the house

was responsive to the site it's not

often that you're building on top of a

40-foot tall stone wall

hi I'm Stephen Harris I am the architect

of the Bedford Quarry house

it is within an hour of New York but it

feels like you could be in Montana

[Music]

this was a functioning Quarry

feldspar rose quartz things of that sort

the reason the Quarry was abandoned was

because they hit water

many architects

prefer working on

nice flat buildable sites I'm much more

interested in difficult sites I looked

at it as this extraordinary geological

opportunity and the fact that it had so

much water in it and the vegetation in

the trees were so beautiful

when the owners found the site there was

a house on it it was a very different

house and to be charitable it had a bit

of deferred maintenance we started over

we worked very hard

to figure out how the owner actually

lives it's a young family and we're

figuring out the site where the light is

where the wind is how things operate

over the course of the day

almost 50 years ago the man in the class

ahead of mine at Princeton had written a

thesis called psychoanalysis and the

place of arrival was that the process of

moving from one condition to another one

can parse and divide into stages what he

referred to as a liminal condition

that was one of the Ambitions for this

house taking from the approach you see a

glimpse of where you're going to go

at a piece of the house a kind of tease

if you will

then you lose sight of it the road bends

around it comes up it rises you come

back around to the back side of the

house and you're in a courtyard

then there was a stair that takes you

down to the main level

then as you come out onto the Terrace as

you approach

that edge you can see the water

it is the space between things

[Music]

as you approach the house the one

opening in these two walls is where they

intersect that brick wall conceptually

and literally slides through the

building

if you look carefully you'll see the

garage that's the top of the garage door

it's a single pane garage door based on

an airplane hangar

as you can see on both sides it's glass

all the way through here

this is conceptually avoid

the stair needed to be figurative it

needed to be something which did not

conform to either geometry

as you come down

you begin for the first time

to see the other side of the Quarry

Terrace is out here all of that so you

have a sense that this is where the main

public floor is

in here then is the room where I think

they spend the vast majority of their

time like many younger families

it's got a great kitchen

it's got a dining area and it has a

sitting area

one of two ways in which one talks about

building on a sloping site the two ways

you do it are the cave and the

Promontory so as we move from one

condition to the other this end of the

room is actually cozy intimate

and then as you move farther in it

begins to reveal itself

you see that problem there you see the

little pathway that goes down to the

dock

and this is the corner that is Kathy

levered over the edge

so finally at this point

you've got the waterfall you've got the

Quarry you've got that incredibly

beautiful sheer face almost like the

Palisades on the other side so in some

ways

it's a calibrated sequence of reveal and

of arrival

I think it's very important that

architecture induce movement

when every single room has the same view

there's really no reason to move

the Interiors are relatively muted and

they're subtle little tropes like if you

look at the lines in those rocks

and you look at the little lines in this

rug

there's this kind of

of reference that occurs there obviously

this Stone and that wall bear some

formal relationship

there's also a little tiny balcony up

here off of this side so

if you have some friend who smokes

cigars you know it's a place where you

can stash him

another thing that we've increasingly

done is

when you have an open kitchen where

everyone is hanging out

I think it's important to have a back

kitchen a part of the kitchen that is

out of sight so looking over that way

you'll see that there is

a second sink a lot of storage there are

dishwashers back there so you could have

a nice meal all of that and then put all

the aftermath over there and deal with

the tomorrow

[Music]

this can be divided off you can close

off this room more for acoustical

reasons than for privacy

this is then the media room aka the

polka dot room

it also happens to have

a model of the house

we are right about here now so you can

see from this that the house is actually

two boxes

it's this box which was the garage that

had the garage door that shut

this is the slot that goes through that

we came in on

this is then the two-story piece you can

see the topography here and how dramatic

this thing drops away

[Music]

it goes back to Libby

if you read Livia about where the

bedrooms go and where the public groups

go and a palazzo there's a whole passage

about how the ground floor is about

fortification the main floor the piano

Noble where all the public rooms are the

bedrooms are above that I think

subliminally it has to do with

protection

this is in the primary bedroom which

has a not bad view the waterfall the

Quarry The Far Side one of the things we

sometimes don't take enough thought to

is the kind of rituals of getting up in

the morning getting dressed

going to bed at night packing a suitcase

all of that a place to toss your clothes

in the evening or to lay out what you're

going to wear

this is the primary bathroom

which has two little chapels off of it

one of which is the loo the other of

which is the shower I hate brushing my

teeth and looking myself in the mirror

and I'd much rather stand here and look

at that waterfall as I brush my teeth

then stare at myself

two closets

I bet you that one's his

above the fireplace that's in the living

room coming directly up

this is also a sedum roof it's just

coming back from the winter

there's something magical about the

sound of that waterfall it eliminates

every piece of stray sound you can hear

this is the one place where you could

look down into that little Courtyard

that's the beginning of

a trail

that goes around all of the water comes

back the other side has steps down to

the water the dock the boat all of that

as you may know a lot of ponds have

little fountains in them and things like

that

that's to aerate the water and to

prevent algae growth and things of that

sort in this case we figured out another

way of doing it or David Kelly did which

was to just pump a little piece of the

water up to the top and let it come and

fall down as a waterfall it has the

other great advantage of giving a kind

of Tranquility throughout here

we were from the beginning on this

project with David Kelly who is a

landscape architect and a partner in

Rhys Robertson partners

and

working closely with him there was an

idea about

vegetation that might initially appear

wild it is something whose color and its

texture it could have been

dug out of the Quarry and ground into

gravel so it has that kind of

local character to it

this is the continuation of that brick

wall that was outside we chose a brick

that was slightly irregular it's not

perfectly flat and it gives a texture to

this wall

there's a skylight that runs the entire

length

of this brick wall

the children's rooms have window seats

these trees are set here to give a

little bit of privacy to these rooms

that's Reese Roberts they designed these

rooms the furniture the cool light

fixtures

when you're here there's a sense of

stability you don't feel like you're on

top of a mountain or something there are

other things that are about the same

height that you are by stepping this

Terrace out

to follow the profile of the Quarry we

were able to Lounge here and look at all

of that

the dining area over here is probably

the one that's the most exposed I mean

it's the only place that's farther out

than that

but you know from here

you can actually

see the water the dock

everything

I also think it's nice to look at the

house from here so it's a nice view of

the house I think

a little biased probably

what we were trying to do was eliminate

the boundary between the inside and the

outside we didn't need the window to

provide a foreground

we've worked very hard for the spaces

outside of that the landscape to provide

that foreground the idea is that perhaps

there are no walls perhaps you're

outside all the time

one of the things about our choice to

locate the pool

over there it's because we're trying to

distribute the amenities and

destinations throughout the site

so this is a very different idea about

landscape may have something to do with

a rock and a pool outside of Rio by

Niemeyer

when you're looking at all of those

things the Quarry the Promontory all of

that it's difficult to appreciate

how beautiful just being and a woodland

is and how magical that is

if there were two adjectives for a

project that are my greatest ambition

it's for a project to appear

effortless

and inevitable

if someone comes over to the house I

would prefer that they'd not be wowed

I would prefer that they not know

who the architect is

I would hope that there would be a kind

of ease Serenity comfort

I would love it if they began to notice

and realize there's a lot more there

than what they can see

I'm sure you've seen films or read books

and you want to see it again

or you want to read it again or you want

to hear it again you know there's more

there you've just seen parts of it

foreign