Houzz Tour: New Home’s U Shape Lets the Forest In

Photos by Elizabeth Felicella

House at a Glance
Location: New Canaan, Connecticut
Size: Three bedrooms
Architect: Scott Specht of Specht Architects

When these homeowners purchased a 1950s ranch house on a lush hilltop in New Canaan, Connecticut, they initially wanted to upgrade only the kitchen. But over time, they began to see the possibilities that the surrounding forest and a little imagination offered. “In the end, the only original piece of the house we saved was part of the foundation,” says architect Scott Specht, who was brought in to create a two-level glass home that drew in the forest. “We kept the basic U shape, which works well, and the footprint for code and zoning reasons.”

Here, a motor court provides guest parking in front of the home’s main entry. A garage on the lower level of the two-level house has parking for two cars.

Upon entering the house, guests are treated to a wall of glass that runs along the back wall. “Once you enter, you realize that the house slopes down a hill on the other side, and it feels like you’re in the treetops,” Specht says. The house’s exterior palette is minimalist: a combination of stucco and ipe wood for the walls and a combination of Fleetwood movable glass panels and Sherwood fixed glass panels framed in a dark metal finish.

The open, elegant living space on the upper level has “floor-to-ceiling glass that allows views through the house, incorporating the landscape into the body of the house,” Specht says. “The tree canopy becomes a part of the architecture and creates a visual perimeter that changes with the seasons.”

The wood floor is ebonized oak and the fireplace is clad in limestone. Behind the dining table are the kitchen and guest bedrooms, and behind the fireplace wall are a study and a staircase leading to the lower level.

Browse dark oak wood floors

“The kitchen always looks like this,” Specht says with a laugh. “It’s always super pristine because they cook outside on the deck most of the time.” The custom cabinets feature white back-painted glass doors. The countertops are Caesarstone.

The master bedroom suite is in its own wing on the upper level and faces the backyard. The wall behind the bed was created out of MDF boards laid in a basketweave pattern and painted white.

The lower level includes a lounge area with a backlit bar, which also serves as a unique lighting feature and decorative element in the adjacent bathroom.

The lower-level bath serves the lounge area and workout room. A trough sink, concrete walls and sleek sconces add distinction to the utilitarian space.

Outside the lower level is a series of outdoor spaces created from concrete and ipe wood, including lounge seating, lush greenery and a fireplace. “We wound a path around the whole exterior of the house that demarcates different events,” Specht says.

The fireplace is gas and doesn’t have a flue, so the vapors are in contact with the concrete, purposefully staining and aging it, Specht says.

The path also leads to a pool area with lounge seating, perfect for daytime sunning or relaxing after a nighttime swim.