Tucked neatly into the landscape, this secluded residential entertainment center sits quietly on the property transformed into an island by creating surrounding water features including a skating pond, fishing pond, and reflecting pools which all circulate by a pump and 35-foot-high waterfall system. A custom-designed metal bridge provides access. A significant challenge to the design of the hut was getting it to fit seamlessly into the landscape from all angles.

Inside the 1,800-square-foot hut, exposed timber frames, stone floors, and an extraordinary custom-designed limestone fireplace create a fairy-tale–like setting that is neither quaint nor too rustic. It is set up for recreational getaways and includes a family room, kitchen, bathroom, a first-floor office and locker areas for skating and fishing equipment. Exterior natural materials of stone, slate, copper, and cedar give texture to the undulating forms of the roofline and lidded dormer windows. Details exemplify the superior skills of the design and construction teams. The southern-facing rustic hut features a stone terrace and outdoor fireplace overlooking the water. John Meyer calls the structure “a cross between a miner shack and a hobbit hut.” The fairytale aspect shows especially well at dusk, when lights from the windows are reflected in a pond edged by ornamental trees, plants, and stonework.