Seneca House
Overlooking Seneca Lake this 400m2 house rests in a field amongst the vineyards of Upstate New York. A simple rectangular volume is punctured by a series of courtyards - secret gardens - each corresponding to one of the three programs enveloped within the volume: a stand alone apartment, the main residence, and an artist’s studio.
The use of corrugated metal recalls the agricultural structures that populate the rural landscape, while the openings operate as framing devices that transform that landscape into tableaux drawn deep into the volume’s interiors.
The clients Dano Hutnik and Karen Gilman (http://www.danosonseneca.com/about.html ) own and operate the adjacent Heuriger on Seneca restaurant (also designed by the architects in 2005). Dano is an acclaimed chef who is often invited as a featured chef at the James Beard Foundation and in 2012 was nominated for one of its prestigious awards. Karen is an accomplished artist and not only manages the restaurant but is its acclaimed pastry chef as well.
