The idea of a home spanning a valley, creek, crevasse, what have you, is fascinating to me. While we’re all familiar with the jutting cantilever over the falls at Fallingwater, there are other ways to span flowing waters and valleys. Intrepid architects have attempted this with different styles combined with feats of engineering, creating bridge houses. Here’s a look at some of the most stunning examples around today.
photo by Sam Noonan
This Bridge House is by Max Pritchard Architect, built in 2008. This home is located in Adelaide, Australia and spans a winter creek that babbles along well beneath its floors.
photo by Sam Noonan
photo by Christiaan de Bruijne
This villa in the Dutch Achterhoek was designed by 123DV Architecture and completed in 2011, and is totally self sustainable. Its long horizontal lines suit the park around it.
Taking a step back in time to a mid-century precedent bridge house – this is the Warner House, built in 1958 in New Canaan, Connecticut. I believe I featured it years ago when it was on the market and it was featured on the Modern House Notes blog. The home was designed by John M. Johansen.
Photo via Studio Green Landscape Architecture
This architect of this beautiful home, Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects, decided to place this house in a valley instead of on a hilltop in Marin County, California, fitting into the landscape yet contrasting with it via its strong lines and Corten steel panels that will patina over time. The house, completed in 2005, has elegant heft yet treads lightly on the land. The surrounding landscape is by Studio Green Landscape Architecture. Winter creeks travel underneath the home seasonally.
photo by Curt Clayton
Architect Wilfred John Oskar designed this stunning bridge house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it was completed in 2008. The modern structure makes the most of the views of the surrounding bucolic landscape and natural light.
photo by Curt Clayton
Would you live in a bridge house? If so, where would your ideal location for it be?
