Beach Haven Residence: A Beach House with Two Types of Cedar on the Exterior

Completed by Specht Architects in 2015, Beach Haven Residence is a residential project located on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey. This house is designed for a family of five, built with some techniques that often used in boat building for its construction. Two types of cedar are used for this house exterior.

Overview

The lot where this house sits is on the beachfront, tucked away from the street with a lot of code-regulated square-footage and height restrictions. The project challenge is to create something light-filled and open that can take an advantage of the beautiful site surroundings by using every available square inch of the buildable area of the house that allowed by law.

Design

This house is designed for a family of five with an upper level that features a beachfront master suite. At this level, each child also has their own, uniquely styled “ship’s cabin”. The lower level of the house consists of a large living/dining/kitchen space, an elevated hot tub area, a lounge, and a guest room/office. All of these rooms fit within a compact envelope of 2500 square feet in size.

Materials

In the construction of the house, some techniques that are often used in boat building are used for this house. The roof is made of fiberglass while the exterior components are designed in stainless steel. In this house, the highest hurricane-rating available are the windows. There are two types of cedar used on the house exterior to provide a contrasting sculptural form to the house.

Beach Haven Residence Gallery

Photographer: Taggart Sorensen