Awbrey Butte – Horizon Drive
There are not a lot of un-built lots on Awbrey Butte and most of those remaining are challenging sites. Once you make your way up this steep lot, the Cascade views are spectacular. The topography posed a unique challenge for Spencer Williams; getting a driveway up over 30’ vertically from the street to the house without it being too steep, while staying within ARC guidelines for retaining walls and setbacks from property lines. This driveway is cut into the hillside, creating a level pad up top for the house with a combination of boulder and natural stone veneer retaining walls flanking most of the length. The mountain modern design captures the big views with a wall of glass following the profile of the “folded” roof design, popping-up for clerestory windows in the Great Room to bring in the indirect lighting from the North. The stone, glass, steel, and cement board exterior along with a metal roof come together for a great look, but also help to harden the home against wild fires and are “Firewise” compliant, which is now required on Awbrey Butte as well as many other communities in Central Oregon. The daylight basement design works its way down the slope and is tied together with floating steel stairs inside as well as a steel staircase connecting the expansive outdoor living spaces on both levels. An East-facing entry courtyard will be a great space to have coffee in the morning, lounge in the sun midday, or get shelter from the evening summer sun.