Swift is an off-grid cabin, a remote family retreat tucked into the treeline on an idyllic site in south-west Washington State in the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Designed by Portland-based Ment Architecture, the 1,500 sq ft structure has been carefully sited to preserve existing trees and avoid any potentially unstable land on the clifftop site. The house is set back from the cliff edge, with a large deck reaching out into the view.
An off-grid cabin with a view
Down below lies a reservoir and there are distant views of Mount St Helens, the active volcano that erupted with such devasting consequences in 1980. The new cabin is set on a sloping site, with an entrance at ground-floor level and stairs leading up to the first-floor living area, all set beneath a large mono-pitched roof.
The roof area is festooned with solar panels, enabling the residence to be completely off-grid; they provide power for the main cabin as well as a separate sauna building and a boat garage. Inside, the hefty structural Douglas fir glulam beams, wooden flooring, white walls and charred-wood cladding create a strong juxtaposition with the surrounding forest.
Careful window placement frames the views, while the deck can be opened up to the living room via a large sliding door. At the other end of the linear plan, a small balcony doubles up as a cantilevered roof above the front door. Solid concrete foundations ground the building within the otherwise unaltered site – there are no formal gardens or planting.
Swift Cabin is just an hour and a half from Portland, but the transformation from city to country is substantial.
Ment Architecture was founded in the city in 2022 by Adam Lawler and Solomon Berg. Lawler, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and Berg, who spent his childhood in Northern California, bring a strong affinity to nature to their work, as well as experience with wooden construction. Their new studio is focused exclusively on residential design.
-
Is this London’s slickest burger joint?Already proven in Paris, Dumbo’s smash-hit formula of precision, confidence, and simplicity arrives in Shoreditch – and yes, it’s worth the wait
-
How to be butch: Clark Henley’s sharp, satirical and playful manual is back in printThe 1982 classic, ‘The Butch Manual: The Current Drag and How to Do It’, full of tongue-in-cheek advice, is available once again
-
Aston Martin goes goth, ramping up power, poise and dark glamour with the new Vantage SThese moody images mark the debut of the latest model out of Gaydon, the dynamically focused Aston Martin Vantage S
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners’ passionsArchitect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts, have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic midcentury modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heartThe dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in CaliforniaA minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxuryThis coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside outFor the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think soFor some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summerA Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
