Chilmark House

Designed and built in Chilmark, Massachusetts, the Chilmark House project covers almost five acres of previously unbuilt land in the heart of the farming and artistic community that is “Up-Island” Martha’s Vineyard. The site, a former sheep grazing field, overlooks Chilmark Pond, with long views to the Atlantic. I Architectural work was done in collaboration with Gray Organschi Architects of New Haven, Connecticut. Based on a love of the dense aggregation of New England’s farm complexes, we sited the studio and the house barns tightly together, creating a charged outdoor space between them, which provides the approach to the house’s entrance. The ceilings in the public rooms lift to the high ridges, with dropped areas to create a sleeping loft high in the roof. The lower level consists of a series of bedrooms with shared spaces between that look into light wells, landscaped with local rocks and moss. We designed and built many of the freestanding furniture pieces specifically for this project, enlisting great designers and long time collaborators. The house’s striking exterior was achieved used a historic Japanese woodworking method known as shou sugi ban, which preserves and finishes the wood by tactically burning it with fire.