Specht Architects
Casa Annunziata

The clients, who had been living in an ornate 18th century house on a large property, wanted to make a dramatic post-retirement change in their lives. Their goals were downsizing and embracing a minimalist architectural aesthetic while also highlighting all the personally important relics they had collected over the course of their lives.

The house is a 2000 square foot glass pavilion, with a thin floating roof that cantilevers 15’ from the end walls. The interior is open, with a communal space forming the center of the house, and a bedroom suite at each end. The finishes include huge, seamless porcelain wall and floor surfaces, and fully concealed storage, fixtures, and devices. The contrast of this minimalism with the owner’s elaborate collection is dramatic and adds to the otherworldly aspect of the house.

The approach sequence -- traveling through a forested area and then seeing the symmetrical house on-axis at the back of a large, open pasture heightens a sense of pilgrimage to the house. The owners last name “Annunziata” means “spiritual announcement” in Italian, and seems an appropriate descriptor for the site procession and the house itself.