Perfect cube: glass cube, amery, wis., 1974 ralph rapson, faia - end quote - Brief Article

Residential Architect, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Meghan Drueding

"it's an out-of-this-world kind of place, with nature surrounding you all the time in all its moods ... i don't know that i'd recommend it for everyone."

--ralph rapson

Ralph Rapson's Glass Cube vacation home near Amery, Wis., may not be for everyone, but it suits him and his family just fine. The Minneapolis-based architect and his wife bought the Cube's pristine, 40-acre site during Rapson's 30-year tenure as head of the University of Minnesota's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. They spent a year and a hall camping out in various spots to help determine where to place the house, finally settling on a hillside spot above the Apple River Standard-sized windows and doors form the project's exterior walls, which are supported by a wood exoskeleton. "Andersen Windows agreed to sell me the windows at cost if they could use photos of the house in their advertising," recalls Rapson. "That helped with the budget."

The home's transparency lets the family connect with the natural world in a way few people can. "It's fun at night to watch the fireflies and little animals, frequently deer, with their flashing eyes," Rapson says. "I've always found it very exhilarating to be in the house in a lightning storm." But the 25-foot-square cube also provides dependable shelter from extremes. The house retains so much of the sun's heat that its sliding doors can be left open on a sunny winter day. And it still provides the seclusion Rapson craves: He bought an adjoining 40-acre plot several years ago to ensure the home's privacy would never be compromised.