Silo House is certainly not your average tract house. This AIA award winning design overlays an elliptical "silo" within the central heart of a rectangular "barn". The contemporary styling of this home challenges common notions of residential design.

The original home was located in a thick, densely wooded site, and was designed to study the relationship between a house and its landscape. Pastures defined the local region and are the inspiration for the design.

Entry into the home is directly into the gently curved ellipse of the living room, with its high ceilings and colored concrete floor. With its arcade of openings to other rooms, you feel compelled to explore the various parts of the house. To the left you descend into the home's sunken family room. The original owner used the rear half of this large space for an art studio. To the right of the living room is the home's spacious kitchen with its walk-in pantry. Also on this side is a main level bedroom and full bath. This bedroom is easily utilized as office space, a study, or a den if a bedroom is not needed on this level.

The upper level features a loft at the head of the stairs, with its high ceiling to the rear. It's this elevated ceiling at the rear of the loft that forms the tower visible above the rear of the home. Windows placed high in this tower bring in indirect light, making the loft bright and cheery. This light in turn is bounced down into the living room below. The use of operable windows in the tower has another benefit: they allow for passive ventilation of excess summer heat, significantly reducing cooling costs.

The bedroom to the left of the stairs is sunken below the level of the loft, paralleling the floor height change on the main level. Like the loft, this bedroom directly overlooks the family room below, rather than using a solid wall to enclose it. To the right of the loft is the spacious master suite. It features a large bath, and two walk-in closets.

The foundation below the sunken family room is a slab. Below the living room, dining room and main level bedroom is an unfinished partial basement.