Double Take: What’s Happening Around That Tree?
Wood-trimmed concrete pavers highlight a stately oak at the entrance to an International Style home by Ralph Rapson
Becky Harris
December 4, 2017
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Photos by Alyssa Lee
Project at a Glance
What it is: A unique path for an architecturally significant home
Location: Chanhassen, Minnesota
Architect: Ben Awes of CityDeskStudio
Project at a Glance
What it is: A unique path for an architecturally significant home
Location: Chanhassen, Minnesota
Architect: Ben Awes of CityDeskStudio
Before
Noted 20th-century modern architect Ralph Rapson designed this International Style home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, called the Betty Poole House, in 1959. The current homeowners are big architecture fans who feel a strong obligation to maintain the house and stay true to Rapson’s original intentions. Luckily their architect, Ben Awes, worked for Rapson when he was in architecture school. He and the homeowners agreed that the new path should both respect the home’s original architecture and honor a mature oak close to the front door.
Problems. A walkway from the driveway to the front door was made of cheap square pavers, shown here. They looked out of scale and haphazard, and the homeowners hated the chore of trying to shovel them during Minnesota’s long winters.
In addition, an oak tree that the original house had been built around had grown so large that it blocked the front door and made the approach confusing. The oak was so close to the front door that the storm door swung into it, and the tree made the front door hard to find.
But the oak tree was substantial, significant and grand. It was healthy and not a danger, so the idea of removing it was a non-starter. “The tree serves as a sentinel for the house in that spot,” Awes says.
Noted 20th-century modern architect Ralph Rapson designed this International Style home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, called the Betty Poole House, in 1959. The current homeowners are big architecture fans who feel a strong obligation to maintain the house and stay true to Rapson’s original intentions. Luckily their architect, Ben Awes, worked for Rapson when he was in architecture school. He and the homeowners agreed that the new path should both respect the home’s original architecture and honor a mature oak close to the front door.
Problems. A walkway from the driveway to the front door was made of cheap square pavers, shown here. They looked out of scale and haphazard, and the homeowners hated the chore of trying to shovel them during Minnesota’s long winters.
In addition, an oak tree that the original house had been built around had grown so large that it blocked the front door and made the approach confusing. The oak was so close to the front door that the storm door swung into it, and the tree made the front door hard to find.
But the oak tree was substantial, significant and grand. It was healthy and not a danger, so the idea of removing it was a non-starter. “The tree serves as a sentinel for the house in that spot,” Awes says.
The current homeowners estimate that this photo was taken in 1959 or early 1960. The horizontal lines of the home’s original architecture, shown here, provide strong contrast to the sculptural silhouettes of the mature trees.
After
Keen observers may have noticed that the previous photo showed no front door or glass walls by the tree. When Rapson originally designed the house, the front door wasn’t here. This glassed-in foyer was originally a covered breezeway that connected the house (left) to the garage (right). A later renovation had enclosed the breezeway in glass and moved the front door from the side of the house that faces the garage to its current spot on the front facade. Awes isn’t sure if Rapson was involved with that renovation, but either way, the result certainly honors his style.
Solutions. In upgrading the walkway, “we wanted to embrace the tree and celebrate it,” Awes says. They hugged the tree with a path that appears to float and has a one-of-a-kind ipe wood edge. At the same time, they needed to respect the architecture. “We didn’t want to do anything bold that would change Rapson’s concept for the house,” he says.
The result also makes for an interesting approach to the house. While the temptation is to look straight through the building to the view of Lotus Lake, the new wood detail makes visitors pause and look down.
Keen observers may have noticed that the previous photo showed no front door or glass walls by the tree. When Rapson originally designed the house, the front door wasn’t here. This glassed-in foyer was originally a covered breezeway that connected the house (left) to the garage (right). A later renovation had enclosed the breezeway in glass and moved the front door from the side of the house that faces the garage to its current spot on the front facade. Awes isn’t sure if Rapson was involved with that renovation, but either way, the result certainly honors his style.
Solutions. In upgrading the walkway, “we wanted to embrace the tree and celebrate it,” Awes says. They hugged the tree with a path that appears to float and has a one-of-a-kind ipe wood edge. At the same time, they needed to respect the architecture. “We didn’t want to do anything bold that would change Rapson’s concept for the house,” he says.
The result also makes for an interesting approach to the house. While the temptation is to look straight through the building to the view of Lotus Lake, the new wood detail makes visitors pause and look down.
Floor plan. The path leads from the driveway to the front door. The architect placed a rock with its own ipe edge detail to anchor the other end of the path. They also added pavers on the other side of the foyer (right) that serve as a stoop.
View from inside. The detail can be enjoyed from inside though the massive window. In fact, when choosing the wood for the edge, they looked to the lovely 8-foot-high maple door.
“This door is beautiful, the maple has darkened with age, and it has so much grain and character,” Awes says. And the floor-to-ceiling height of the door plays nicely off the mighty sentinel standing just outside.
“This door is beautiful, the maple has darkened with age, and it has so much grain and character,” Awes says. And the floor-to-ceiling height of the door plays nicely off the mighty sentinel standing just outside.
How did they do that? Any footings could have damaged the tree’s roots. So this “floating” portion is made of simple precast concrete pavers that are about 3 inches thick and placed atop large black-stained treated timbers set in a bed of sand and gravel. The timbers don’t extend all the way to the edges of the pavers, which creates the illusion that the pavers are floating. The pavers that don’t appear to float are set directly into a bed of sand and gravel.
The edge around the tree was much trickier to accomplish. “Our contractor’s carpenter is a cabinetmaker, which was important to us,” Awes says. “He scribed the tree just as you’d scribe a wall for a cabinet.” The architects then worked out the silhouette and rendered the pieces using computer-aided design software. A water-jet company used the renderings to cut the curved edges of the concrete and the ipe. Then they drilled into the concrete (a tedious task) and bolted the wood to it, leaving a small gap detail between the two materials. Should the wood edge ever get in the way of the oak’s growth, they can remove it.
The edge around the tree was much trickier to accomplish. “Our contractor’s carpenter is a cabinetmaker, which was important to us,” Awes says. “He scribed the tree just as you’d scribe a wall for a cabinet.” The architects then worked out the silhouette and rendered the pieces using computer-aided design software. A water-jet company used the renderings to cut the curved edges of the concrete and the ipe. Then they drilled into the concrete (a tedious task) and bolted the wood to it, leaving a small gap detail between the two materials. Should the wood edge ever get in the way of the oak’s growth, they can remove it.
Here’s a look at the entire path, including the rock at the opposite end from the tree.
This is the overall approach from the driveway. You can see how the rock and pavers tell you to come follow the path — and how, from a distance, it looks as though a tree is growing right through the middle of the house. This project was small in scale, but its thoughtful execution had a meaningful effect.
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I always thought houses in severe winter regions needed steep roofs. Wouldn’t the flat roofs succumb to structural damage from too much accumulated snow? Year after year?
So awesome, love the details to look after the tree! The new look is beautiful love it!