The Blue Lake Residence is a vacation home on a remote volcanic lake in the Cascade Range of central Oregon, designed for a renowned advertising executive and his family. The residence was built as a family retreat from pressures and activity of the city, while offering the flexibility to serve as a retreat center for a neighboring non-profit foundation. The client called for a home that reflected historic mountain retreats in the West, both rugged and at one with the land.

The house is set upon a steep and heavily wooded slope on the lake’s north shore. It utilizes and interprets vernacular forms and materials, giving it a sense of monumentality and timelessness. The house is organized as three monumental volcanic stone walls that surround a heavy timber frame of reclaimed Douglas-fir. The frame supports a deeply overhanging roof of cedar to offer protection from heavy snowfalls. A guest suite and utility level below the main floor and a two-bedroom loft accommodate both family stays and additional visitors. The main body of the house — open kitchen and dining areas, living room, office and master suite— surrounds a three-sided courtyard that opens to the south and centers upon the landscape, framing views to the lake and mountains beyond.