Project Description
Mazama Meadow House
Mazama, Washington
2,400 square feet
The Mazama Meadow House is vacation retreat located in the picturesque Methow Valley in North Central Washington. The area is rich in year-round recreational opportunities. In the summer, the warm dry climate offers many outdoor activities such as horseback riding, hiking, and river rafting. In the winter, the area receives abundant snow and is ideal for snowmobiling and cross country skiing. The owners of the Mazama Meadow House built this retreat to take advantage of these opportunities while creating a variety of spaces capable of holding their large, extended family and guests.
The three-bedroom house features 2,400 square feet of living space. The main living area features a vaulted ceiling with a large window wall that opens up to the Methow River to the north. A large bonus room above the garage provides extra space to accommodate guests. The home’s design utilizes low slope shed roof forms inspired by historical architecture seen in the region which consists of mining, logging and farm structures. Weathered barn wood, raw corrugated steel siding and concrete floors are the primary materials used which further reinforces the vernacular aesthetic.
The dry forested nature of the area makes the homes in the area susceptible to wild fire. Special care was taken to incorporate Firewise design strategies when designing the Mazama Meadow House. Some of these strategies include the use of fire rated metal roofing, non-combustible steel support beams, slab-on-grade construction to prevent flames from moving through a crawl space, and open soffits. The landscape strategy incorporates rockeries and gabion walls as fire breaks. It was specifically designed to limit the use of combustible vegetation and large trees while utilizing a sprinkler-system to keep the low-growing plants consistently well-irrigated.