Mountain
Modern
Location: Bend, OR
Project Partners
Architect: Neal Huston
Builder: SunWest Builders
Landscape Contractor: Botanical Developments
Photography: Cheryl McIntosh
A clear entry sequence guides visitors from the street to the front door and into an enclosed entry courtyard. Low walls, fencing, and planting choreograph this route, clarifying the change in elevation between street and front door and turning it into a calm, processional approach that introduces the material language of the rest of the site. The natural slope of the property was treated as a design driver, with the house and hardscape terraces tuned to the existing grades to avoid unnecessary retaining and to keep views open across the site. Subtle elevation shifts define outdoor rooms while preserving a strong visual connection to the broader landscape.
This landscape was designed to carefully site the home on its hillside lot, maximizing long views while allowing the home to settle naturally into the Central Oregon topography. The design team worked from the outset to align the placement and elevation of the house with the existing contours, so interior spaces and outdoor rooms open directly to distant mountain and meadow views rather than toward the roadway. Collaborating early with the architects ensured that building siting, circulation, and view corridors relate seamlessly, so the experience of moving through the house and landscape feels continuous and intentional.
A clear entry sequence guides visitors from the street to the front door and into an enclosed entry courtyard. Low walls, fencing, and planting choreograph this route, clarifying the change in elevation between street and front door and turning it into a calm, processional approach that introduces the material language of the rest of the site. The natural slope of the property was treated as a design driver, with the house and hardscape terraces tuned to the existing grades to avoid unnecessary retaining and to keep views open across the site. Subtle elevation shifts define outdoor rooms while preserving a strong visual connection to the broader landscape.
