This off-grid cabin, nestled in the hills on a 5+ acre site bordering U.S. Forest Service land, is 30 minutes from Logan, Utah. The home makes the most of its setting, offering expansive views in every direction. A southwest-facing bank of windows frames the surrounding landscape views, bringing in abundant natural light. The cabin is designed to operate entirely off the grid, with a solar array and backup generator.

The structure’s orientation, placement of glazing, and the depth of roof overhangs are designed to optimize solar gain in winter, while providing shade during the hot summer sun—an efficient and responsive strategy. A solar array with a backup generator powers the home.

Firewise design strategies:
- rock and concrete perimeter
- weathering steel siding
- metal roof (also designed to retain snow )

Built to meet the challenges of its rural location, this cabin demonstrates how modern off-grid living can be resilient and deeply connected to place.

See more: www.castarchitecture.com/logan-canyon-offgrid-cabin

Wildfires have long been a reality for homeowners in the wildland-urban interface, but increasingly we’re seeing fires in more populated areas that aren’t traditionally considered at risk. During summers, smoke from distant fires now blankets urban areas causing smoke damage and indoor air quality issues. Fire seasons are now lasting longer. The National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise program is a great baseline for building in fire country, and CAST architecture regularly goes beyond designing residences resistant to climate change.

The Berm House in Washington’s Methow Valley uses hardscape to create a defensible perimeter, plus the majority of the exterior of the home is treated with flame-resistant shou sugi ban technique.

Defensible Site planning
The first layer of fire protection begins with the site itself. Design landscapes with defensible zones, creating clear, well-maintained spaces between the home and surrounding vegetation. Using fire-resistant plants, non-combustible materials like gravel or stone, and strategic placement of trees is pivotal to slow the spread of fire toward the house. The goal is fuel reduction—limiting the amount of flammable materials and vegetation around the home.

The selected materials and finishes at Bear Creek Base Camp in the Methow Valley include weathering steel panels which are highly durable, minimize maintenance, and are fire-resistant.

Fire-resistant envelope (roof, walls, eaves)
Choosing flame-retardant materials that can withstand high heat and resist ignition is essential. Specify exterior cladding like fiber cement panels, stucco, or brick, and opt for roofing materials such as metal, tile, or composite shingles. A simple, low-maintenance roof can be important. Windows can be designed with double or triple-pane tempered glass, which can withstand substantially higher temperatures than standard glass.

Icicle Creek Retreat (left) in the Wenatchee Forest has a concrete base set above the average snowfall line to protect siding and wood framing from the freeze-thaw zone. There is no exposed wood on the exterior to aid in fire protection.
The exterior of Isabella Ridge Escape (center) is clad in weathering steel panels that are durable, require almost no maintenance, and add a layer of fire protection.
The exterior of Wolf Creek Retreat (right) has a concrete base and pre-rusted weathering steel panels to aid in fire protection.

Minimizing venting
Make it airtight. Vents and openings are often weak points in fire-resistant design. Incorporating ember-resistant vent covers and tightly sealing gaps around eaves, doors, and windows can prevent embers from entering the home. Design a fire-resistant attic and crawlspace access points.

Buffer = Hardscape, not decks
Wind-blown embers generated during wildfires are the single biggest hazard. Use hardscaping around the home to create a defensible perimeter. This can include non-flammable elements like stone or brick pavers, retaining walls, concrete or metal planters, gravel paths, and water features.

Mechanical air filtration
As wildfires generate large amounts of smoke, ash, and fine particulates, incorporating air filtration into the home helps improve indoor air quality during wildfires. Ensure ductwork is properly sealed to prevent unfiltered air from entering the system.

Sprinklering
Integrating exterior fire suppression systems, such as eave misters, roof sprayers, perimeter sprinklers, water storage, redundant power, and remote control systems can add additional layers of protection.

Designing homes with layered fire protection is not just a consideration for rural areas—it is an essential strategy for resilience in an era of increasing wildfire risks. Thoughtful design may not only help protect individual homes but also contribute to the broader effort of creating safer, more resilient communities.

Beacon Hill Cedar Cottage is one of CAST’s City of Seattle Pre-approved cottage plans

Designed by CAST and built by the homeowner who is also a contractor, Beacon Hill Cedar Cottage includes the amenities and feel of a larger home. Its efficient footprint provides two bedrooms, well-daylit spaces, lots of storage, and a covered outdoor living area.

Bathed in sunlight, a generous central area includes the kitchen, dining, and living spaces. Carefully placed large windows and glass entry doors flood the area with light that bounces off the white walls to make it feel larger than its square footage. The open glass doors and deep eaves create a vibrant indoor/outdoor living experience.

The durable Japanese cypress exterior is treated using the traditional Shou Sugi Ban technique, ensuring both beauty and natural resilience.

With two bedrooms, and maximized storage throughout, there is plenty of room to keep things close at hand to pursue hobbies and work from home.

Square Feet: 707 + 147 SF patio

Photos: Peter Bohler Photography + Director
Shou Sugi Ban exterior: Nakamoto Forestry
Windows: Marvin  

See More: Beacon Hill Cedar Cottage

Mazama Public House at the north end of Washington’s Methow Valley

mazama public house in the Methow valley community

The Mazama Public House is set to become the gathering spot for the community of Mazama, at the north end of Washington’s Methow Valley. Oriented toward Goat Peak mountain views, the 1,868 square foot public house is designed to seat 56 and another 50 outside with built-in benches on the four-season covered patio.

An expansive three-door door system opens in the summer months for a seamless connection to the outdoor decks. The indoor area incorporates performance space, and the large garage doors allow for flexibility and increased seating capacity. The height of the shed roof and the expansive windows on two sides are sited to take advantage of natural light and views. The interior features wood beams punctuated by blackened steel and concrete floors. Custom tables and bar slabs were crafted from locally sourced Douglas-fir. Outside, blackened steel will accent the wood structure. The siding is a dark-stained, rough-sawn vertical channel shiplap.

See more on our website.

Photos by: Benjamin Drummond Photography www.benjandsara.com

This recently completed residence in the Issaquah Highlands, 20 miles east of Seattle, enjoys spectacular views. A big part of our role here was to know when to get out of the way!

A central circulation spine screens private zones while channeling visitors towards the open kitchen-living-dining area. With its subtle nods to Japanese traditions, the house is as much about choreography as building

More intimate framed views of the contemplative garden and the art collection provide contrast before the vista finally opens completely at the rear of the house.

Generous overhangs and deliberately engineered cross-ventilation provide effective passive cooling and weather protection for this mountaintop site.

PROJECT TEAM

CAST Architecture:  Stefan Hampden, Matt  Hutchins, Forrest Murphy

Add’l Design:  Eric Oliner

Calista Interiors:  Calista Munnell

Stoney Point Engineering (Structural): Dwayne Barnes

Core Design Inc. (Geotechnical & Civil): Glenn Sprague

BDR Custom Homes:  Steven Jewett

---

Here are some photos of the Saratoga House--just need some landscaping!

Outdoor dining room off the kitchen

View from the family room to the breakfast bar and kitchen beyond

The Big Island

The Big Island again.

The breakfast bar's single support--custom fabricated stainless steel. 

The view from the front door, looking up the walnut/glass/steel staircase

---

Our Saratoga House is suddenly feeling much more put together--most of the cabinetry is in, the stone tile is completed throughout the interior, split face stone going up the arcade columns.  Stucco and the metal roof are on the horizon.

The interior of the house is very open, very connected to the backyard. Not yet installed is the eating bar which will come out parallel with the kitchen island, and supported on a stainless steel tripod.  The staircase is wrapped in more cabinets, with stainless and glass railings.

See more photos after the jump:

We'll be wrapping the arcade roof with standing seam metal all the way around, running the split face limestone up the columns, and matching up the interior stone tile with the exterior tile (same stone, but a change in texture for better footing outside).  The drain in front of the Weiland doors is going to be very understated--a 1/2" slot between courses.

The island is 14' long, 4 1/2' wide--two butterflied slabs of 'Silver Wave' marble.  As the focal point of the kitchen, and the center of family life/entertaining, we really took it over the top!

The cabinet wall is highlighted by a linear skylight.

---

The ceilings and soffits will be high gloss white aluminum panels. We installed a plywood underlayment to simplify panel layout and minimize panel distortion.

All photos are courtesy of Phil Dietz / Lost River Construction.

This photo is looking down the entry veranda toward the front door:

Looking from the front door toward the sauna wing and entry veranda:

Completed plywood underlay in the great room:

First panels go up in the Master bedroom:

Master bedroom ceiling complete:

Detail of fasteners:

Recent rendering put together for an advertisement:

We finally have finished our plywood box wall! The light catches the plywood grain a little differently, highlighting the alternating orientation.Custom steel stairs to the mezzanine pinned off the concrete, are the next undertaking.

The depth of the boxes are modulated to create niches for models, samples and audiovisual equipment.

I am building a little painting studio in my backyard, and wanted to try out 'shou-sugi-ban,' a traditional japanese technique of burning the wood siding to create a thin charcoal layer to protect the wood, in lieu of staining/painting.

I tied three boards together in a triangle with baling wire, and stood the bundles on a small fire.  The fire wicks up the inside of the bundle after about a minute, with flames coming out of the top after about two minutes.  I then flipped the bundle, burnt from the other end for another 30-45 seconds.

Once I had the surface fully burnt, I laid them down, clipped the wire and extinguished the fire.  I had to use a blow torch to touch up the areas along the edge that didn't get charred.  I have seen some people use a roofer's torch to blacken the surface, then brush off the soot and apply Penofin, but I wanted the full charcoal layer.

And here is the shed with the siding up!

It was a bit of an adventure to maneuver the 8' planks while they are on fire, and messy to deal with (since I kept the charcoal layer intact), but I love the texture and the way it shifts between silver and black in the light.

Thank you to all our friends and colleagues that came out last night to help us celebrate our new office space!  Standing room only!  Now if only one of us had thought to snap a picture when the crowd was actually there....

Since we haven't decided what to do with the big wall that separates the desks from the conference/copy space, we took all the recycled moving boxes, cut them down on the table saw, then glued them up, thus recycling them again.   Perfect for the party!

Greenwood resident Kate Lichtenstein contacted us last spring to help her design a backyard studio / guest house for her modest 650 square foot 1920's one bedroom home (shown above). While the home's scale fits nicely with Kate's desire to have a simple and ecologically responsible lifestyle it falls a little short when it comes to a rough and ready workshop space for art, bicycle repair, ski tuning and building projects. Kate's home also lacks the space for a home office / guest room - something that she would like to integrate into the new structure.

Our initial goal was to have her project under construction by late summer 2009 but we were unable to get the project off the ground by that time. In hindsight, the stalling of the project turned out to be a stroke of luck...

In March of 2009 Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proposed legislation that would allow Seattle homeowners to construct backyard cottages on their property. The legislation was reviewed and ultimately passed by the Seattle city council on November 2nd 2009 (with a 9 to 0 vote too! Kudos to Seattle voters for electing progressive urbanists for city council members!).

For Kate the ordinance has opened up new possibilities for a structure that can both accommodate her current needs and provide a potential source of income as a rental unit if her finances ever fall on hard times. Besides allowing for a legal detached rental unit the ordinance also allows for the construction of a two story structure – an arrangement that will work well for Kate’s needs and will help to preserve the spaciousness of her backyard.

Kate is planning to build with a mind toward sustainability and has a special interest in using recycled building materials whenever possible (she is, at this time, planning to write a parallel blog on the topic of recycled building materials). For us at CAST architecture Kate's project is an exciting chance to test out the new backyard cottage ordinance and work with a client who is committed to building green. We see her project as an excellent opportunity to provide the general public with information about the process of designing and building a backyard cottage in Seattle. Kate and her partner Ric Cochrane are always game for an adventure and have graciously agreed to allow us to share their experience with you. To that end, we are planning to blog about Kate's project as we travel through the design and construction process. Please subscribe to our feed if you would like to follow along in future posts…