Chautauqua Residence, named after the movement that brought rural communities together with arts and culture under a “big tent,” takes a familiar gable form and reinterprets it in dowel-laminated mass timber (DLT) and stone cladding, following the site’s topography to create views and privacy while tempering the building scale. The design reduces the CO₂ footprint by using carbon-neutral materials such as mass timber and domestic quarried limestone. Fire-resistant strategies, including careful selection of plant material, create a resilient home suited to the region’s future climatic challenges.

Beyond its fire-resistant properties, mass timber provides several advantages. Prefabrication of the panels will increase the speed of construction and reduce labor costs for the project, allowing the design to achieve competitive building costs. Mass timber will also reduce the cost of site work on the rugged terrain, reducing overall foundations due to reduced building weight.

The plan is organized as a series of layers mirrored along a central axis. A stone rain screen wraps around the exterior walls and roof, providing a protective outer shell for the exposed CLT interior, which shelters a small courtyard garden at its center. Large openings framing views of the site can be closed down through various pivoting architectural metalwork shutters and awnings. Inside, timber is left exposed; select rooms receive natural limestone plaster and mineral paints.