Landscape Meets Geometry

As a building type, the pavilion is where architects have traditionally expressed their purest ideas in microcosm – experimenting with form and material, and distilling light and space in the simplest and most dramatic of ways. Danish brand Vipp’s latest guesthouse – an offshoot of its furniture, kitchens and homewares, where anyone can stay and experience the Vipp lifestyle in person – ticks all of those boxes.

Designed by architectural firm Johnston Marklee, it’s the first such guesthouse in the US, resting on the edge of a lake in Lumberland, in the western foothills of the Catskills. In this small rural community, the practice has created an escape that’s less cabin in the woods and more brutalist monolith.

Johnston Marklee’s Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee have used geometry to determine the way the building unfolds and is laid out: imagine two back-to-back ellipses that touch at the central point, enclosed by angled walls. “At first glance, the building resembles a stone on the pond; initially solid, but slowly revealing its volumetric form on the approach,” says Johnston.

Step through an opening on one corner and you find yourself inside a curving courtyard, the front door at its far end. The courtyard is almost featureless apart from the shadows dancing on the walls, its stucco walls framing the sky (a device that will have a further part to play once inside).

Once inside, the second ellipse forms the back wall of the kitchen area, which in turn leads to a living space that is all about capturing the view of the lake, stretching away into the distance and surrounded by trees. The two bedrooms are then tucked into the remaining space between these curved walls, with some cleverly angled windows to best capture further views.

While much of the orientation is all about framing these incredible vistas, the architects have also introduced deep rooflights that act as natural spotlights – a small but dramatic gesture that contrasts with the ‘big picture’ effect of the windows. There’s a circular example in the kitchen, plus horseshoe-shaped openings in one of the bedrooms and above the bathroom vanity that wash light down the wall. A final opening sits on the sheltered triangular terrace outside, which, with its concrete floor, acts as a direct continuation of the interiors.

“The abstract form doesn’t prescribe one’s engagement with the space or interior furnishings,” says Johnston. “Rather, each visitor will be able to shape their own experiences. It provides a retreat from the expected and a portal into nature.” And while the architecture and building materials might feel a little strict, in conjunction with Vipp’s very human approach to design, a happy equilibrium has been reached.

The freestanding island kitchen is the brand’s aluminium V3 model, its ribbed profile referencing the stucco finish on the exterior of the building, and rounded edges echoing the room’s curving walls. There are soft, tactile materials that contrast with the concrete envelope, including curtains that drape the walls, and a modular Loft sofa, which sits on a fluffy checkerboard rug by Paris-based Grace Atkinson. Vipp likes to introduce a special-edition piece for each guesthouse it opens: here, it’s the swivel dining chairs, on a polished aluminium base and upholstered in light-grey leather.

Sofie Christensen Egelund, the New York-based, third-generation co-owner of Vipp, was responsible for the interiors, and she has also incorporated art into the scheme. This includes a small and surreal ear-shaped sculpture by Danish artist Kaare Golles, perched on the bathroom wall above the basin vanity; and a thread-wrapped stone on the coffee table by Laura Fischer. Landscaping by Larry Weaner Landscape Associates helps to bed the building into its context, with native, low-maintenance planting and a living roof.

This is Vipp’s 15th guesthouse; others include a townhouse in Lagrasse, France and, most recently, a three-storey mountain house in Austria’s Montafon Valley.