- Project: Spring Harbor House
- Architect: Johnsen Schmaling Architects
- Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin
- Year: 2021
- Area: 2999 m2
- Photography: John J. Macaulay
Building on a Challenging Site
The Spring Harbor House, designed by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, transforms a steep, triangular lot in Madison’s Spring Harbor neighborhood into an architectural statement of restraint and precision. Long considered unbuildable due to its narrow footprint and hilly terrain, the site now accommodates a 32,291-square-foot residence that demonstrates how thoughtful design can overcome spatial and topographic constraints.
Composition of Volumes
The house is composed of three onyx volumes, resting atop a concrete podium embedded into the hillside. Each box shares a simple archetype—a rectangular form with deep cedar-lined recesses—yet each is strategically carved and proportioned to respond to its program, orientation, and surrounding views.
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The largest volume contains the main living areas, with an open kitchen, dining space, lounge, and sitting room. It culminates in a dramatic cantilever projecting over the sloping terrain.
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The garage volume anchors the site, connected to the main house through a glazed mudroom and laundry “gasket.”
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The third volume, stacked atop the living quarters, accommodates a bedroom suite and flexible home office/guest room.
Entry and Interior Flow
A cedar-clad recess marks the entrance, where a pivot door opens into a vestibule screened by polished steel rods. This intimate threshold expands into the dining and kitchen area, while a cozy reading nook offers retreat. Parallel sliding glass doors extend the living space to a covered patio, where cedar cladding flows indoors, wrapping a sitting room with a fireplace at its heart.
The house emphasizes visual permeability, with glass walls framing views from the forecourt through the living spaces and into the tree-lined backyard, creating a continuous connection between interior and exterior.
Materials and Detailing
The residence embodies geometric rigor and tactile richness:
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Exterior: Smooth poly-ash panels frame fields of vertical bevel wood siding, a contemporary interpretation of local cladding traditions. Clear-stained cedar defines recesses and voids, providing warmth against the dark-grey exterior.
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Interior: A minimal palette of bleached white oak floors, white walls, and white countertops creates a calm backdrop, while built-in wood cabinetry extends the cedar materiality indoors.
This restrained use of materials avoids visual clutter, focusing attention on light, proportion, and spatial flow.
A Modern Residential Statement
The Spring Harbor House is both modest and bold: modest in its palette and simplicity, yet bold in its composition of cantilevered forms and sculptural recesses. In overcoming a challenging triangular lot, Johnsen Schmaling Architects have crafted a residence that exemplifies contemporary Midwestern minimalism—a dialogue of geometry, materiality, and serene domestic life.
