BDG 25th Anniversary Edition 2022

“The homeowners wanted the house to be all about the
forest views—the most important aspect was fitting the
house into the context of the site,” says Richard Curl,
principal of Curl Simitis Architecture + Design, who drafted
plans for the residence, while collaborating closely with
Lynch and Devin Hefferon, a senior associate at Matthew
Cunningham Landscape Design.
“It was literally a forest through the trees moment,” recalls
Hefferon. “How do you carve into this existing landscape
to make a home while preserving what makes the site so
special?” The site’s existing topography dictated where
the house would be set, including the access point for the
basement and the location of the home’s raised patios and
covered porch. “The homeowners had lived in Needham for
years and they wanted to stay there, close to their friends,”
says Hefferon. “However, they really wanted this place to
feel like a house in the woods and not a suburban home.”
While the lot had to be cleared to make space for the
house, the goal was to preserve as much of the vegetation
as possible. Additionally, the long term landscape plan
involves revegetating the property so over time, “there’s
a sense that it’s disappearing back into the woods,” says
Hefferon. “The house has both an old charm and modern
feel to it. We strove to make the landscape look natural to
nestle the house in.”
Unlike most of the other homes in the neighborhood,
the home is set far back from the road. The grade at the
back of the house drops dramatically and opens to the
woodland. “From there, the house feels very connected
to nature,” says Courtney Driver, an associate of Curl’s.
On the first floor, the family room has a wall of glass
overlooking the landscape and the adjacent family room
has three walls of windows. All of the bedrooms on the
second floor have views of the forested setting.
The homeowners envisioned a home with Shingle Style
characteristics. To make the structure fit within the context
of the wooded setting, shingles are slate in color and trim
is painted a black tone that matches the windows; stone
sheathes the base of the house. The rooflines are steep.
“We wanted the scale of the house to have a presence
among the trees,” says Curl. Slight embellishments to
the exterior add interest including a projecting triangularshaped
overhang above the front door known as a prow;
on the back of the house a gable features a projection that
combines a prow shape with the more curved essence of
an eyebrow motif.
“One of the reasons we were so excited to build the
house was because of these multi-plane, angled and
curved gables—they are complex to build, and require the
collaboration of some real skilled craftsmen,” says Lynch.
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