Fontana Meadow House

Location: Bryson City, NC
Type: New Construction

The Fontana Meadow House’s design is a response to our clients’ big dreams and enviable site. With two young boys and four dogs, they envisioned busy days on the water, and restful evenings gazing out at the view. This primary home needed to provide a mountain vacation feel with an everyday lifestyle.

Sharing a refreshingly honest ‘more-is-more’ mentality, the clients requested a sizable program to hold their growing family and many hobbies. We separated the program into 3 structures to diminish the overall visual presence on the land and create a sense of seclusion.

The house, pavilion, and garage/apartment are configured on the land to create privacy from neighbors and to create a series of outdoor rooms between buildings. Chief among these is the play lawn which acts as a window to the lake. The lawn is framed by the dining porch and a timber pavilion which establish a natural flow between indoor and outdoor living spaces and connects the home to the trail to the lake.

With the outbuildings providing privacy, we created walls with extensive glazing that celebrate the land’s incredible views to the lake. The windows have a simple rhythm that frame a variety of views across the lake to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and lead around to a sheltered cove.

With a complex set of needs packaged in a simple form, our design seeks to resolve several common challenges in residential architecture: privacy and views; familiar forms and contemporary aesthetics; and a big active lifestyle held in a comfortable and intimate scale. We hope our design solutions serve our clients well as they enjoy the good life on the lake.