Tetherow Overlook
Location: Bend, OR
Project Partners
Architect: Olin Architecture
Builder: High Timber
Landscape Contractor: Landscape Elements
Photography: Cheryl McIntosh
Beyond the paved terraces, a series of lawn platforms steps down the slope, sized and graded for the family's preferred lawn games and outdoor activities. These turf terraces are shaped to integrate seamlessly with the site's natural topography, using the grade changes to define distinct outdoor rooms in an elegant, understated way. The terraces respond to existing contours and then dissolve back into native planting at their edges, maintaining the visual continuity of the high-desert landscape while providing functional, usable outdoor space.
At the front of the property, a motor court with pavers establishes a refined arrival experience, guiding visitors to the main entry while minimizing visual impact on the native landscape. A small private patio for the ADU ensures provides the secondary, attached dwelling has its own outdoor space, offering autonomy and connection to the surrounding environment.
Tetherow Overlook takes advantage of a dramatic ridge site with sweeping views of the Tetherow Golf Course and Mount Jefferson to create a layered sequence of outdoor terraces that extend the home's living spaces into the high-desert landscape. The design organizes the program into a series of discrete outdoor rooms, each calibrated for a specific use and scaled to the family's routines, while maintaining strong visual and physical connections between the house, the sculpted terraces, and the native surroundings.
The main fire pit terrace anchors the design, positioned on the central axis of the house and living room to frame views. This primary gathering space serves as the outdoor heart of the home, offering a focal point for entertaining and daily use. Adjacent to this central space, a covered dining terrace sheltered by a steel pergola creates a shaded counterpoint, featuring a custom-designed fire table that allows the family to extend outdoor dining into cooler months.
On the opposite side of the main patio, a recessed spa terrace is set a few steps below the primary level, creating a more intimate zone that feels visually connected to the main spaces yet offers a sense of retreat and privacy.
