Brahler Residence

What were the circumstances of receiving the commission for this project?

RMA was approached by the owner to design an addition and renovation to an existing 100 year old bungalow

Please provide an overview of the project.

The site of the existing Brahler Residence possesses a dramatic downward slope from the street toward a brook that bisects the lot. A densely wooded perimeter provides privacy from the compact suburban neighborhood. The client wished to maintain the quaint cottage style of the existing century-old shake clad structure while enhancing it with open interior spaces filled with natural light. A new master suite, gallery, and indoor/outdoor entertaining spaces supplement the existing program.



The addition is situated to create courtyard spaces at multiple levels. A folding roof plane mediates between gabled and diagonally hipped roof geometries to create a dynamic vaulted interior space. Roofs and facades clad in wood shake, standing seam metal, and vegetated surfaces fold together, collapsing the distinctions between new and existing, landscape and building, façade and roof. From the street, a windowless living façade camouflages the addition's massing, increasing privacy for the spaces beyond. Inside, one encounters an environment characterized by layered views that create subtle connections to the exterior.

What are the main ideas and inspirations influencing the design of the building?

The architecture merges landscape and building surfaces, articulating the envelope of the addition while configuring the site into differentiated formal and informal spaces.

Were there any significant challenges that arose during the project? If so, how did you respond to them?

The addition was built on solid shale. To build the lower terrace along the existing brook, the shale had to be strategically removed (dynamited) to anchor the home.

How would you describe the architecture of Ohio and how does the building relate to it?

Ohio has a very traditional vernacular architecture, the Brahler Residence respects this vernacular but reinterprets the aesthetic in a forward and resourceful contemporary approach

Email interview conducted by John Hill.