Splendor in the grass - end quote - The Peter Kerr House - Brief Article

Residential Architect, March, 2003 by Meghan Drueding

peter kerr house, gearhart, ore., 1941 pietro belluschi, faia

"i have always felt that in the plethora of choices open to an architect, only self-discipline, the understanding of physical laws, and sympathy for people's needs and desires would save him."

-- pietro belluschi

Ten years before he became dean of MIT's School of Architecture and Planning, Italian-born architect Pietro Belluschi designed a simple beach house on the Oregon coast. The house's low roof pitch and deep overhangs shield it from the fierce elements of salt, rain, and wind. And its muted street facade protects the privacy of its residents from the eyes of curious passers-by.

Belluschi wanted to create a low-maintenance house that would age in marriage with the landscape. So he clad the building in vertical spruce boards, adding an unfinished tree trunk to support the front porch's roof. In addition to weathering gracefully, the spruce siding mimics the upright appearance of the site's wild grasses. A narrow floorplan provides ocean views for almost every room in the house.

The ideas of disciplined, environmentally influenced design presented in the Peter Kerr House served as a forerunner to the widely admired regionalism of the Pacific Northwest.