Basic Instinct

By Ellen Ryan

Even the architect calls it a shack. But as shacks go, this one on South Fork Mountain in West Virginia is pretty nice. The owners and Broadhurst Architects never intended the structure to be a permanent home, only “a logical step between tent camping and the yet-unrealized weekend cottage.” With no electricity, the family uses oil lamps and a wood stove. For water, an overhead storage tank is filled via hand pump, and gravity does the rest. The shack’s elevation on wooden posts helps keep wildlife at bay. A garage door opens on a cantilevered wooden deck and awning that extend the living space. “It touches lightly on the landscape with no pretense,” said the jury. “We loved everything about it.” The architect was his own contractor.

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