The Forest House began with a tent and two days on site. We walked the slope at dawn and at dusk, marked the chestnut trees worth keeping and dug test holes to find where the granite shelf sits.

What the ground decides

The rock decided the footprint. The trees decided the windows. The fog that fills the valley each morning decided that the living room should sit high, above it, catching the first sun.

Drawing last

Only after those two days did we draw. The section through the slope was finished in an evening — because the site had already done most of the work.