Taking cues from farmland in Upstate New York, Manhattan architecture studio Gluck+ organised simple volumes of this home in a grid-like array, orienting the residence and detached studio towards a nearby pond.
Gluck+ designed the Artist Retreat for a photographer who wanted an isolated home to focus on work.
The residence is made up of a framework of eight concrete "solid and almost barn-like cubes", which refer to farm buildings in the area.
"The simple shapes are strong silhouettes in an agricultural landscape, organised in a shifting grid akin to farming plots in the area," the architects said.
"The slatted weathered hemlock cladding is a nod to the utilitarian barn structures that dot the local landscape."
By contrast, the interior features mid-toned wood floors, as well as white-washed walls and ceilings. Clerestory windows brighten the space and highlight its minimal geometry.
Each volume serves a separate function - units with similar programmes cluster together.
"Designed as a working retreat for an experimental photographer, the single room structures are divided by function — live, work, sleep," said Gluck+, which has also designed a tower-like holiday home in Upstate New York.
The living areas wrap around a central courtyard. A dining space and living room connect to the master suite at the southwest corner, which is followed by two cubes occupied by guest rooms along the terraces north edge.
The architects connected the scattered components using glass-walled hallways. The glazing slides open to transform the corridors into "open airbridges".
The open passages admit cross breezes in summer that help cool the house. In winter, the guest bedrooms can closed off from the rest of the home to keep heating costs down.
At the northeast corner of the property, two detached volumes provide space for the client to work and develop photos.
The sheared organisation of the residence isolates each unit, while exposing each component to a framed view of the surrounding landscape.
Upstate New York offers a convenient city getaway location for artists. Examples of other retreats in the area include a home by Steven Holl featuring glazed-over voids carved out of the structure, and a barn-like gallery and warehouse by Buro Koray Duman.
Photography is by Paul Warchol.