Havren House
On a rocky slope above Okanagan Lake, where ponderosa pines open into a sun-bleached clearing, Havren House settles into the hillside with quiet confidence. The cruciform residence is both lookout and refuge—anchored in stone yet reaching outward with a single arm that cantilevers above the valley.
The home’s plan is deceptively simple: four rectilinear volumes radiating in a subtle cross. This geometry organizes the site into outdoor rooms—some tucked against the uphill rock, others unfolding toward the lake. One volume lifts clear of the ground, projecting the living space into open air. With glass on three sides and the valley stretching beyond, the cantilevered room becomes less an object than an atmosphere—an observatory above the slope.
The structure celebrates its making. Cross-laminated timber roofs define each wing, their dimensional logic expressed in the exposed wood surfaces that warm every room. Large overhangs temper the Okanagan sun, while steel and board-formed concrete age naturally, collecting the same patina as the blasted rock underfoot. The palette is unvarnished, built to weather into its setting rather than resist it.
Resilience is threaded through the design. In a region defined by seasonal wildfires, landscaping is kept minimal and the materials fire-hardy. The forest clearing itself becomes part of the strategy: the house does not impose on its site but works with its spareness, allowing natural light to act as the primary finish.
The result is a dwelling that feels both grounded and expansive. From the uphill patio, one is aware of the protective forest edge; from the cantilever, the vastness of the valley dominates. Inside, wood, concrete, and steel record the changing daylight with as much drama as any applied color.
Havren House is not a house of grand gestures but of calibrated moves—each responding to slope, sun, and material. In the end, it belongs as much to the hillside and its clearing as to the people who inhabit it.
