Dutchmoor Valley
Guesthouse
LaPorte County, Indiana
Starting construction this summer, a 2,700sf guesthouse will complement a main house compound located in a 5-acre farmstead in rural northwest Indiana. Nestled against a treeline overlooking an alfalfa field and the main house, this structure includes a lounge office space, fitness room, two bedrooms with a shared bath and soaking tub, and a garage.
The guesthouse is composed of three elemental shed volumes: The bedroom wing, the fitness and entertainment wing + the garage wing. Inspired by local shed vernacular, these three volumes share a simple gabled roof profile, linked by glass gasket connections. These pure forms have been carefully oriented together on the site to maximize daylight and views to nature, while providing visual connections to the main house and privacy for guest spaces.
The shed-like structures sit serenely in the middle of the alfalfa field as a timeless fixture in this idyllic landscape. The sequence of delicate transparent glass boxes connecting solid gabled forms create an experience of moving through indoor-outdoor spaces framing views throughout the farmstead.
The pitched roof architecture is fully expressed on the interiors through a continuous wood-clad vaulted ceiling. Private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms are expressed as solid white volumes that punctuate the expansive vaulted space. The resulting interior space offers a warm natural material palette that defers to the framed views to nature.
Dutchmoor Valley Guesthouse
Year: 2023
Size: 2,500sf
Status: Construction
Category: Office
Services: Architecture, Interiors
Project Team:
Jason Nuttelman, Kai Liu, Jose C. Garcia, Islam Aljabary, Emily Wilson