As the first residence to be built within Bundoran Farm, a 2300-acre preservation development just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, this project was afforded a unique opportunity to set the precedent for the 90+ remaining home sites. McKee Carson’s reputation and intimate knowledge of site, having provided A/E and master planning services for the larger development, won the firm the trust and commission of the pioneering stewards of this community.

With the clients, we set out to capture the prominent views to the east of their home site, to design a hierarchy of circulation routes and to create a landscape seamlessly fitting the pastoral setting. The client sought a utilitarian, or farmstead appearance rather than an overly designed suburban appearance; the home needed to immediately convey a sense of permanence and appropriateness.

Site walls were used to structure the site, extending from the house foundation into the landscape, ultimately separating outdoor spaces and helping to translate the massing of the architecture into the ground plane. Sustainalbe materials and methods such as rainwater harvesting and biofiltration were employed while a native plants palette helped to give the site an overall sense of belonging.

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