This residence is a 6,000 square foot three story cement, stucco, concrete and wood structure. It includes a 3 bedroom children’s wing, third floor master suite, two story formal living room and combination formal and family dining area open to a gourmet kitchen that is connected with pass throughs to a large pantry kitchen. It also features a video theater, two private office areas, an indoor flow current swimming pool, a large exercise room and an interior ground floor two car garage.
Interior circulation is by 2 large three story stairwells with ground floor bottomless and irrigated planters, allowing 20 plus foot palm and Sheffleras to grow in the stairwells. The entry stairwell passes through a moon gate door in remembrance of its Chinese American resident. The structure was cut into a loess covered basalt mountain. Native sagebrush and bunch grass was maintained around the residence with the exception of a lawn and shrub area as a fire break on the up mountain side. Concrete tile covers the exterior decks and roofs adding to the fire protection.
The architect’s philosophy of regionalism was carried through by excellent clients. The house is built in “The Northern End of the Great American Desert”, a dry, shrub-steppe eco system. This house is designed for its desert region and reflects a southwest Native American and Spanish desert tradition. Imbedded in the battered concrete wall substructure is a Chinese horse and characters saying “With the coming of the horse comes good fortune”, a fitting symbol for this residence, which overlooks the Horse Heaven Hills to the south.
PROJECT SCOPE
Typical of the larger custom residences designed by our firm, this three-level residence is designed on a grand scale with a two-story formal living room, large family dining and kitchen areas, two- and three-story open garden stair towers, family entertainment theater, indoor swimming pool, and bedrooms. The residence was set into the subsurface rocks on the east end of Badger Mountain high above the Tri-Cities and has extensive glass facing the panoramic view of the cities and surrounding Columbia Basin areas.