Henry Island Guesthouse, located on one of the westernmost San Juan Islands, is an A+Awards Popular Choice Winner in the Private House (1,000 – 2,000 sq ft) category. As the jury of the 13th annual awards program noted, “this year’s winners reflect a powerful shift in architectural thinking–one that embraces local craftsmanship, regional materials and innovative detailing to address global challenges through grounded, meaningful design.”

The guesthouse responds to our clients’ desire to create flexible space for hosting family and friends during extended stays on the island, and for a sensitively scaled dwelling that relates to the vocabulary and materials of the original home on the property, designed by our practice in 2012. The gentle slope allowed us to anchor one end of the building into the earth and cantilever the other above grade, minimizing disturbance to the ground while creating a distinct character for each of the two bedrooms – one responds to the quiet intimacy of the forest, and the other looks out to filtered views of the nearby bay. Inspired by a covered breezeway in the main residence, we conceived of the guesthouse living area as a covered porch flanked by the bedrooms. Large sliding glass doors pocket into the walls, opening the space to take in the sights, smells, and sounds of the island. Slender steel columns, exposed timber beams, and seamless indoor-outdoor movement relate to key features of the original home. Read more about the Architizer A+Awards winners and finalists below.

Project collaborators included Hoxie Huggins Construction, PCS Structural Solutions, Allworth Design, Pacific Surveying and Engineering, and PanGeo, with photography by Aaron Leitz and Benjamin Benschneider.