Home of the week: Cabin-like Richmond home made with trees from its own property
The Adirondack-style house in Richmond, Mass., was built partly with trees harvested from the property.
Usually, a light switch says little, if anything, about a home. But not here, not in this beauty in Berkshire County where white and red oaks on the property were harvested, dried for six months, and used as four-story support columns, bark and all. The tree standing closest to the central stairwell has a barely noticeable light switch in its trunk, one of many ways the homeowners blended nature with modern life in this 25-year-old Adirondack-inspired house. (Tree branches form the stair railing.)
More home-grown trees supplied the rough-hewn beams, which are not hidden behind wallboard, leaving them to add to the country-cabin feel. Yet, this is not a log cabin, but a home built of triangles, squares, rectangles, and half-moons.
Two walls in the first-floor guest suite come to a point and are lined with windows, making it a perfectly triangular space to watch the sun rise. The geometric expression continues in the squared-off dining area set on a low platform. And in the master suite, the bathroom ceiling undulates like a wave, pushing the eye toward the half-moon window above the whirlpool tub.
Story continues after gallery.
See inside 720 West Road in Richmond:
In the spacious living room, granite rectangles frame the large wood-burning fireplace and rise some 30 feet above the floor, mimicking a rocky Berkshire hill. In nearly every room, large square windows allow light to pour in and create forested views. In the den, stacked 3-by-3-foot windows reach the same 30-foot height as the living room without detracting from the view.
The kitchen, reached by passing through a granite arch, has butcher-block counters, cherry cabinets, and a row of windows.
The second-floor master suite, positioned to capture sunsets, also has a half-moon window and a working fireplace, and its bath includes a glass-block shower. The home’s other two bedrooms vary in size and are down the hall from a full bath.
The house itself is pyramidal; the walls taper to create the third floor, a comfortable space that feels like the home’s think tank. With a deck, full bath, and a bevy of those square windows, it’s a great space for writers, accomplished or simply hopeful.
Flooring through the house is pine (not harvested from this lot), and the walls are clad in waist-high wainscot and in some cases bead board.
This home sits on a 50-acre lot, putting the property line over the next ridge — no privacy fence needed. There is an in-ground gunite pool and a nearly mile-long driveway.
Marc Bachman of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Great Barrington is the listing broker.
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