Bauhaus Inspired Contemporary Home

Flavin Architects collaborated with Ben Wood Studio Shanghai on the design of this modern house overlooking Lexington’s last remaining blueberry farm. Designed for a family of five, the house is inspired by the traditional courtyard houses of China. The courtyard is entered through a teak gate and flanked on both sides by western red cedar lattice screens. Our updated courtyard design leaves the south side open to the blueberry fields, giving harbor to the low winter sun.

The house also takes cues from the nearby Moon Hill Residences designed by Walter Gropius’ firm, The Architects Collaborative. It employs a muted palette based on traditional New England building materials including painted shiplap, cedar boards, and stucco. Clear finished cedar is used sparingly in the soffits, transom, and spandrel panels.

The interior is designed as a light-box. Simple white walls and dark floors capture the changing patterns of light, which pour in through floor-to-ceiling walls of glass. These glass panels face the courtyard and give the family a view of the blueberry fields beyond. The kitchen joins the two wings of the home, a convenient meeting place for the members of this active family.