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The courtyard house wrapped around a mature oak

02 / ResidenceMonument House

Winter ParkCourtyardHouse

Location
Winter Park, FL
Completed
2023
Area
5,400 sq ft
Program
Private residence

Planned around
a tree that was
here first.

The brief began with a survey and a single condition: the sixty-year-old live oak at the centre of the lot would stay. The house is three pavilions set around it, so that every principal room looks into shade rather than at a neighbour.

Location
Winter Park, FL
Completed
2023
Area
5,400 sq ft
Program
Private residence
Architecture
Monument House
Materials
Lime render / white oak / bronze
ScopeArchitecture · Construction · Interiors

The idea

A courtyard
is a room
without a roof.

Rather than a front and a back, the house has an inside and an outside that swap places through the day: the courtyard is the living room in the morning, the pavilions are in the afternoon.

The entry pavilion beneath the oak canopy
The entry pavilion beneath the oak canopy
Lime-rendered wall with the shadow of a single olive tree
Lime-rendered wall with the shadow of a single olive tree
Double-height window washing the stair in light
Double-height window washing the stair in light
Living pavilion opening fully to the courtyard

The living pavilion, doors folded away

  • 3Pavilions
  • 58 ftOak canopy
  • 92%Glazing to courtyard
  • 2Years on site
Kitchen pavilion with a single island in honed stone
Kitchen pavilion with a single island in honed stone
Hand-finished lime plaster in the sitting room
Hand-finished lime plaster in the sitting room
Bedroom pavilion, glazed on two sides
Bedroom pavilion, glazed on two sides
A quiet corner of the guest wing
A quiet corner of the guest wing
Lime plaster wall, close

Material study

Lime render

Five coats of lime over block, burnished by hand. It takes the shadow of the oak differently at every hour, which is the point.

The oak that organised the plan
The house at dusk from the street, showing almost nothing

Next residence

03

Windermere
Estate

Windermere Estate: white stone pavilions across the lap pool
Windermere, Florida2026
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