Talladega, AL
Two biology professors at New York University planned to retire to Alabama, to an eighty acre, wooded lot. The wanted a house which would be spacious enough for a full herpetology laboratory and the usual compliment of guest room, library, and living spaces. At the last meeting the house was seventy-five hundred square feet and a single story, organized around a courtyard, the fourth wall of which was the forest.
The construction of the house is not typical. It is post-and-beam with non-bearing panels as infill. There are very few interior finishes, with the roof planks and sheathing exposed inside. This rough, unfinished look is appropriate for this outdoor-oriented couple, and it allowed a much larger home to be built at a considerably lower price.