House On A Barrier Island

The clients for this house are a couple with two young children from the Philadelphia area who have long spent their summers on Long Beach Island, a barrier island off the southern coast of New Jersey. They were drawn to this particular property for its uniquely wooded and secluded character; a site that amounts to a secret in the open. The many trees are a result of the previous landowner’s weekend plantings over some twenty years, and our clients maintained a strong desire to always feel among these trees while inside the main living area. This led to the idea of lifting the main functions of the house above the ground and entering underneath them, so that living occurs at the level of the tree canopy, and the more private functions of the house occur above the trees with a view to the ocean. A guest bedroom, an office/gym, and a storage room form the three points of support that elevate the main house, which in turn forms the covered exterior space and breezeway at grade level.