On first walking the farmland site with the owner, we were intrigued by several features: An old borrow pit from the construction of the adjacent “hardtop” road; a high point on the site occupied by maturing mixed hardwoods, many of them live oaks; a large open linear glade oriented north-south bounded by live oaks on the west and a double row of slash pines on the east; a large open field planted yearly with corn and the site of many fall dove hunts; and plenty of acreage newly planted with Pinus Palustris, the slow growing but magnificent Longleaf Pine. Standing at the high (north) end of the stunning glade and looking south into its axis, we could turn to see the borrow pits’ potential as a lake to the west and over the young pines to the east an almost mystical view of the field—―the live oaks behind serving as a perfect buffer to the road. Here I proposed our building site. Removal of a small swath of the young pines would create an east-west axis from field to future lake and, where it intersected the north-south glade, it would become a great room composed of the heart of our house: the living room, dining room and kitchen. We nestled the entrance, master suite and office into the hardwoods and the children’s and utility areas toward the pines to the southeast. We looped the entrance road around the site providing fleeting glimpses of the house before arrival at the entrance court.
© Robert Cain
click image to see enlarged plan
© 2008-10 Robert M. Cain