The Presidential Range sits in full view from this meadow site outside of Gorham, New Hampshire. It’s close enough to feel present in every room, yet far enough to keep the house grounded in its own landscape. The site arrives with a sense of privacy already intact: a long driveway, tiered stone walls, gardens that step down through the landscape. The house, as it existed, wasn’t doing this setting any justice.
The challenge here wasn’t demolition, it was transformation. A significant contemporary design was developed from a very traditional home, with as little removed as possible. The work began at the entry, which offered no sense of arrival, no celebration of the exterior energy. A new porch and roof established that threshold. From there, the interior was opened up to connect the public spaces to each other, both vertically and horizontally and pulled the landscape inward.
Window design drove much of what followed. Enlarged openings fill the interior with light and draw movement from one space to the next. An open floating stair, glass railings, and steel elements kept deliberately lightweight allow light to travel through the home unimpeded. Light natural wood tones carry the same logic. In the great room, dropped steel and timber ceiling elements define the kitchen, dining, and living areas while bringing the ceiling height down to a more human scale.
The exterior is board-formed concrete at the base, left exposed to the elements. Above it, a mix of pre-finished Douglas fir and western red cedar—horizontal where the siding faces weather, for ease of repair and replacement over time; vertical where it sits protected from snow and rain. The distinction is functional and visible, and both are the point.
In summer, the screened porch and expansive deck bring the gardens into the life of the house. In the winter, triple-paned glass holds the Presidential Range in view with mountains covered in snow, the interior warm.
Architecture, Interior Design & Landscape Volansky Studio
Structural Engineer Artisan Engineering
