An eco home in the high desert is built in the shape of a hashtag
WORDS ALICE WESTGATE PHOTOGRAPHY JEREMY BITTERMANN/JBSA
City life in San Francisco, USA, was losing its appeal for Kat and Mike Burn, and when their son Alan reached school age they decided it was time for a change. ‘Alan needed space to roam and we all wanted to live a more outdoor life,’ says Kat.
In September 2016 they bought a 3,500sqm plot on the outskirts of Bend, a small city in the high desert, 160 miles south-east of Portland, Oregon. They were attracted by its dry summers and snowy winters, and by the nearby lakes, mountains and trails. ‘We could ski, mountain bike, hike and paddleboard within 30 minutes of home,’ says Mike.
Kat 47, a Texan biotech executive, and UK-born Mike, 48, who has a background in IT and runs a pub in North Yorkshire, wanted to build an eco home using cross-laminated timber (CLT). Its walls and ceilings would be made from hi-tech, pre-cut panels delivered to the site and dropped into place. And the house would have good green credentials as CLT is a low-carbon, low-waste material created from sustainably harvested wood, making the finished building into a huge carbon bank. Another aim was to clad the exterior in charred cedar so it would be weatherproof and fire-resistant, an important consideration as a wildfire raged through the area 20 years ago. Inside, they wanted four bedrooms to allow for visiting friends and family, and they envisaged several multifunctional areas – including a garage that becomes a playroom and a guest room that doubles as a home office – to make their money go further.
They consulted architect Casper Mork-Ulnes and his designer wife Lexie, who had remodelled their home in San Francisco. ‘My Norwegian heritage means I love working with wood,’ says Casper. ‘I value its structural qualities and the tactile interiors it creates. But this house pushed the boundaries because it was one of the first in the country to be built from American CLT.’
When presented with several schemes, Kat and Mike opted for ‘the most daring and outlandish’ of the bunch: a house with four parts that intersect in the shape of a hashtag, technically known as an octothorpe. The space in the middle would form a sheltered courtyard, while the gaps around the edge would create a series of semi-enclosed terraces. ‘The planners were curious but supportive,’ says Mike. ‘Oregon is full of wood, so it’s a
