This new summer and weekend house for a family of four was designed to recall the inherited architectural genetics of the region's casual summer camp traditions. Sited on a very slender ridge surrounded by Valentine Creek and forested parkland near Annapolis, Maryland, this new house was designed as a series of hybrid, rustic, wood, stone, steel, and glass structures evoking the feeling of a rural camp.

One of the primary design features of this house is the tightly controlled choreography of arrival, entry, and the unfolding of both water and woodland views. From the auto arrival court, the entry sequence begins with passage through a narrow "dogtrot" between two small garages and then emerges onto a light-washed boardwalk overlooking a grass courtyard with a controlled glimpse of the water beyond. The entry foyer continues the choreography of water views within the house, while the main living room with its floor-to-ceiling steel windows reveals and frames the ultimate long water view and natural context of the creek.