Oak Grove House — precise modernism rooted in the landscape

Connecticut
In Progress, 2026
Type: Houses
Theme: Tranquility in the Country

Targeted Project EUI
100%

reduction in energy use compared to the AIA 2030 baseline

Set in a clearing in the woods, this single-story family house extends the language of New England’s mid-century architectural modernism. Ringed with old-growth trees and historic stacked stone walls characteristic of the region, the home embraces a strong connection to its natural surrounds.

Approaching the home through an allée of crabapple trees, visitors are greeted by a courtyard framed by the dark masonry of the house and reclaimed stone site walls. Upon entry, your gaze is directed through the long east-west axis of the house, gliding over a glittering pool to rest on the textured wall of the opposite wing. Throughout the house, views are set outward to the tranquil landscape.

The house is clad in elongated brick with dark wood and metal accents, a restrained composition that sets off the lush emerald landscape. Within, the material palette is composed of limewashed plaster walls and warm wood cabinetry. The main gathering spaces flow outward to a covered pergola, unifying the indoor and outdoor areas. Oak flooring warms up the bedrooms and skylights bring sun deep into each space.

Net-zero ambitions are threaded into the design. The organization of living spaces into distinct floating suites also “zones” the house, allowing flexible control over comfort and temperature of each area while maximizing energy conservation. A strategic orientation to sunlight and prevailing winds, careful window placement and shading, and a double-insulated envelope alone cut the building’s energy use to half that of the average U.S. household. These built-in decisions, together with an all-electric heating and cooling system and energy harvested from photovoltaic panels, discretely integrated into the roofline, put the house on track to be a net zero energy home.

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Key People

Marc Leff
Project Lead

Joanna Ptak
Project Manager

Caroline Wharton Ewing
Interior Design Lead

Yuri Kim
Interior Design Project Manager

Collaborators

TenBerke
Design Architect and Interior Design

Prutting + Co Custom Builders
General Contractor

Susan Cohen Landscape Architect
Landscape Architect

Five Phase Engineering
Structural Engineer

S.E. Minor & Co
Civil Engineer