marc thorpe envisions home and art studio transformation with the ‘broad top house’

located along 32 acres of pennsylvania’s appalachian mountains, marc thorpe design’s broad top house is built upon the existing foundation of the studio of american sculptor kenneth campbell. in 2001, the property had been purchased by his apprentice to continue the use of the studio while transforming the upper levels of the building into a new home and gallery. 

images by truetopia

in designing the broad top house intervention, marc thorpe design focuses on capturing the views of the surrounding landscape while maintaining privacy from the road. the solution was to divide the house between introverted and extroverted zones through you use of materiality and space. the main facades of the house facing the road would remain austere utilizing reclaimed wood cladding while the more private faces of the home would open up with floor to ceiling glazing to offer views of the surrounding landscape.

marc thorpe design maintains the central core of the broad top house, around which the interior programming is organized. this core serves as both the hearth and the main transition space between the two levels of house. along the ground level are the communal spaces such as living, dining, kitchen, art gallery and terrace which overlooks the field and pond. marc thorpe connects the ground and upper levels of the broad top house by way of a spiraling, concrete stair in the gallery that transition to a mezzanine. the mezzanine leads to the two private bedrooms and second gallery space while opening an atrium space to the central living and kitchen below.

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project info:

project title: broad top house

architecture, interior design: marc thorpe design

location: pennsylvania, USA

AOR: JBA

structural engineer: diviney & associates

building survey: measure up corp

visualizations: truetopia