Lookout Mountain
Location: Lookout Mountain, TN
Type: New Construction
Lookout Mountain
The Lookout Mountain residence is a modern home inspired by the clean lines and gabled roofs of traditional farmhouses. The home is perched above the Tennessee River giving the owners beautiful views of downtown Chattanooga while maintaining their privacy on a busy street.
The project is located in the East Brow neighborhood of Lookout Mountain with the character of the land defined by the contrast of the front edge and back edge of the lot. The public street side has on-street parking, sidewalks, and is adjacent to the entrance of a national park with lots of visitors and foot traffic. The rear of the land is a cliff providing unfiltered, 180 degree distant views of the Tennessee river, downtown, and beyond.
Our clients needed a design solution that created privacy from the public road while still having a good-neighbor feel to the house and landscape design. Conversely, the house wanted to be wide open to the big views off the rear of the land. These elements, combined with the narrow neighborhood lot and precarious geology, required thoughtful site and space planning.
The design solution began by using the garage, car court, and secondary spaces as a buffer to the road and orienting all the living spaces and bedrooms to the view side. Four outdoor porches provide our clients a variety of places to connect out to the landscape and views while maintaining privacy from the road.
Site section shows the contrast in terrain from the front of the house to the back.
Oak wall paneling and a continuous ceiling plane help the entryway of the home feel welcoming, while a wood paneled hallway portal provides some privacy and sense of transition from the entry into the living spaces.
The main living spaces flow out to a screen porch and covered porch and provide big views while still bringing daylight into the living spaces.
The exterior form and palette adopted the concept of contract as well by using lighter toned siding on the farmhouse form and a black palette with Shou Sugi Ban siding on the modern horizontal forms of the house. The result is a classic look that embraces the contrast of old and new forms into a timeless design.
