Description

Set within the rolling, mature landscape of mid-county Greenwich, the Greenwich Engawa Home reimagines a long-owned property as a serene, nature-forward retreat. Designed for a retired couple who had lived on the site for decades, the residence replaces a dated colonial structure with a highly personalized interpretation of Japanese Engawa architecture, a style chosen for its quiet elegance, clean lines, and seamless indoor–outdoor connection.

For the homeowners, this project represents a culmination: a home that welcomes visiting children and grandchildren, honors a historic barn preserved on the property, and expresses the tranquility they had cultivated in their gardens over many years. The result is a luxury custom home that celebrates longevity, craftsmanship, and a deep sense of place.

The Engawa—a narrow, continuous veranda traditionally wrapping Japanese houses, served as the conceptual and functional anchor for the design. Here, the Engawa becomes a series of expansive covered porches, walkways, and terraces that connect interior living spaces to the surrounding gardens with effortless grace. Every elevation is unified by horizontality, extended rooflines, and deep eaves supported by expressive timber framing.

To achieve the warm, textural quality the clients desired, the residence uses extensive exposed Alaskan cedar timber framing—visible at the entry portico, rear porches, upper balconies, and throughout the façade. These carefully proportioned beams, braces, and columns evoke the structural clarity of traditional Japanese houses, while the material palette, cedar siding and trim, Vermont slate roofing, and natural stone retaining walls—grounds the home in the vernacular of the Northeast.

The architecture embraces restraint and authenticity. Cedar’s natural grain becomes ornament; joinery becomes expression; and shadows cast by deep roof overhangs become part of the composition.

The home is approached via a gravel drive and arrival court, where the sound of crushed stone underfoot sets the tone for a retreat designed to slow the rhythm of daily life. Low, layered plantings frame the cedar façade, softening the geometry while maintaining clear visual access to the site’s prized gardens.

The Engawa concept reaches its full expression along the rear elevation, where stacked porches, covered walkways, and generous terraces form ribbons of space oriented to the sun and gardens. Sliding doors and full-height windows make it easy for the homeowners and their extended family to transition between formal entertaining, quiet morning routines, or late-afternoon gatherings overlooking the lawn.

The landscape steps down to a sunken pool terrace, built in stone and designed as a calm, wind-protected counterpart to the main garden. This outdoor room connects directly to the lower-level wellness wing, including the gym, sauna, and indoor pool, making the exterior environment an integral extension of daily living.

Inside, the plan is organized for comfort, movement, and hosting. The first floor includes formal entertaining rooms, a generous guest suite, and the family’s main living spaces, all connected to the Engawa porches through large openings that invite daylight and seasonal breezes.

The second floor houses the primary bedroom and additional family suites, each designed for privacy yet connected through shared balconies and quiet seating areas that overlook the gardens. Above it all, the third floor contains his-and-her home offices, a secluded perch with treetop views, perfect for reading, writing, or simply enjoying the stillness of the property.

The basement level elevates the idea of retreat:

• An indoor pool lined in natural materials
• A fully equipped gym
• Sauna facilities for daily ritual and recovery
• A dedicated home theatre for family gatherings

By placing these functions adjacent to the sunken exterior courtyard, the design creates movement between indoor and outdoor wellness experiences, one of the defining aims of the project.

The Greenwich Engawa Home is a deeply personal high-end residential design, balancing Japanese architectural influence with New England craft traditions. Every material, proportion, and circulation path was shaped around the clients’ desire for simplicity, serenity, and connection, to nature, to family, and to the home they have nurtured over decades.

This residence stands as a testament to thoughtful custom home design—one that honors memory while embracing a new way of living.

For more information on our other new homes projects please visit https://www.hiltonarchitects.com/new-homes. You are invited to explore some of our blogs on custom residential architectural design at https://www.hiltonarchitects.com/blog.