It’s a common problem: A family loves getting together, but as the family gets bigger—children grow up, find partners, and have their own kids—the gathering place seems to get smaller.
A local couple faced this same issue. The log cabin/hunting lodge on their horse farm outside Crozet was too crowded when everyone came for holidays and vacation breaks. Their charge to Cecilia and Robert Nichols, principals of local architectural firm formwork: Maintain the character of the cabin (a favorite place for Thanksgiving), while adding more space in a way that allowed more daylight into the basement rooms, better connected the house to the setting, and created living spaces in the landscape as well.
The Nichols had worked with the clients before, so were familiar with their style and preferences. Looking at the Crozet residence and considering the ask, Cecilia Nichols recalls, “we knew we’d need a landscape architect;” they decided to partner with Mauricio del Valle of MDV Design Inc., who also had done previous work with the clients.
The first challenge was finding a way to integrate the three existing elements—the cabin, the swimming pool behind it, and the pond below the slope to the southeast. Their solution: Carve out the slope so that the residence could be expanded out toward the pond, and incorporate large window walls to bring light and landscape into the lower-level living areas…