Pleated House

An empty-nester couple desired a modest structure that pays 'sincere deference' to its forest site on the Door Peninsula of eastern Wisconsin.

Pleated House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Door County, Wisconsin
The living and dining areas along the north side of the house adjoin a covered porch lined in board-and-batten.
Photo © John J. Macaulay

Pleated House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Door County, Wisconsin
Covered porch lined in board-and-batten.
Photo © John J. Macaulay

Pleated House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Door County, Wisconsin
Inside, a white steel stair leads to the studio.
Photo © John J. Macaulay

Pleated House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Door County, Wisconsin
Photo © John J. Macaulay

Architects & Firms

Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Door County, Wisconsin

People/Products

An empty-nester couple desired a modest structure that pays 'sincere deference' to its forest site on the Door Peninsula of eastern Wisconsin. The Milwaukee firm of Johnsen Schmaling Architects responded with a simple rectangular 1,850-square-foot volume nestled in a clearing on the 4-acre property. Its charred-wood siding echoes the texture and color of the closely surrounding tree trunks. 'The challenge with this setting,' says Sebastian Schmaling, who designed the house with partner Brian Johnsen, 'is tempering the inherently disruptive act of building in nature. We made an ambiguous boundary, one that softens the geometry and moderates the transition from artificial to natural.'

Called the Pleated House for its series of canted exterior surfaces, the low-profile building makes use of the ancient Japanese technique of charring cedar, shou sugi ban, for its main volume. The high-performance material withstands fire and acts as a sealant-free preservative against rot and insects. It also serves as a breathable rainscreen that protects the underlying thermal envelope from solar exposure and moisture.

The architects carved out the entrance in the rectangular mass to make a trellised forecourt that leads to the vestibule. They gave the sequence definition with walls of milled varnished lumber, stacked at slight angles that reverberate in deep relief with the board pattern wrapping the building. The vestibule connects to a covered porch in the rear, where an expansive patio extends the width of the living and dining areas.

There is a quiet tension in this sylvan retreat, by design. The interior materials'in contrast with the dark, tactile exterior'are white for walls, cabinets, and a steel staircase, with a gray polished-concrete floor. An expansive vegetated roof (which, among other green virtues, relieves runoff) visually connects the second-level master suite to the ground. Most striking is the master suite itself'a glazed and varnished-cedar-board box the red-brownish color of the entry wall and of fall foliage'expressed as an object separate from the main structure beneath it.

'This house is about a reasoned manipulation of volume and skin,' notes Schmaling. 'Rather than create form that justifies itself, we push a formal vocabulary rooted in a fundamental contextuality.'