Down a winding gravel road beyond the vineyards of Mendocino County in Northern California, Envelope A+D founder Douglas Burnham was commissioned to create an experimental extended family home that still blended into the thickly forested plot. The Forest House comprises a total of nine tent cabins arraigned in four clusters and raised some feet above the forest floor on 4×4 posts. The clusters are built around a concrete paved central plaza.
Each of the three sleeping cabins and the main pavilion are stained matte black to accent the warm plywood interiors. They all feature army-green canvas roofs tented over the structures and held in place by a rope lattice. The various clusters are joined by raised wooden pathways and each sleeping cabin has its own bathroom accessed across a private deck. The living areas can be fully opened to the outside in warm weather and can be closed off and warmed by wood stoves in the winter. With its emphasis on the surrounding scenery, the Forest House is a marvel of blending inner & outer spaces in a rustic environment.
