Khyber Ridge Residence
Category: Architecture
Posted by: James on 11/12/2005 4:34:00 PM | Digg | Stumble It! | del.icio.us
About being on the slope
It would seem that former pro snowboarder Marc Morisset selected the site for his home the way he would pick a line. Sited on a steep wooded hillside in Whistler, B.C., the house nearly rides the site; carving and floating down the slope while grabbing exhilarating moments of big air.
The house is about being on the slope... composed of crevasses and plateaus.
Designed by San Francisco based Studio (n-1), the firm of Dutch transplants Christos Marcopoulos and Carol Moukheibe, the three bedroom house is set in an Intrawest planned subdivision. The architects pushed and pulled at the stringent Design Guidelines to create a modern mountain home in contrast with the more typical neighbors, but in harmony with its environment.

An article in the NY Times provides other interesting tidbits in talking with the owner and architects, though they can't seem to keep all their facts straight... Squaw Valley is in California, and I could split some other hairs as well... but I won't.

Firm: Studio (n-1)
Article: NY Times - The Boarding House
Photos: NY Times
Climbing from the road like a backcountry excursion, the house is made up of five levels that engage the landscape at different points. Parts of the house are cave-like excavations into the hillside, while the living room is a cantilevered space hovering in the trees.
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Posted by Miriam on 11/16/2005 11:01:00 AM

WoW!
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This is not in harmony
Posted by Yeah Right on 11/18/2005 11:17:00 PM

this house is not in harmony with the environment. It is a sore upon the land. A herpe. Many trees were cut down to build this house. The site once had trees on it. Now the earth has a toxic pile of cool looking crap that rapes the earth of nutrients and drowns the soil with toxins. Dynamite was used to blast the site so they could build upon it. But hey at least it looks cool! Right?

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Cool Indeed
Posted by yeah wrong on 11/24/2005 9:34:00 PM

All architecture is toxic, that is the nature of the beast. Your raving is inarticulate. Your comment could be addressed to all architecture, including sustainable architecture (which really does not exist). Which leaves us with your cool statement...cool indeed!
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Harmony for sure
Posted by Gina on 11/24/2005 9:37:00 PM

Cool Indeed...I agree.
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Cost
Posted by nick on 3/24/2006 8:54:00 PM

How much do people pay or what is the price range for such homes. Plus were could u get designers for such houses?
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not in harmony...pffft
Posted by lucky on 4/14/2006 8:25:00 AM

and i guess you live in a tent? the house is amazing
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harmony
Posted by gordon on 4/17/2006 10:41:00 AM

the house is far more in harmony with the site than the other houses in the subdivsion or anywhere in Whistler for that matter.

search the real estate sites for examples.

as for construction costs, I think it was about C$200/sqft.
building lots can be had for about $800,000. currently in the area.

SKI magazine did a story on the house, and it is listed for sale on Sotheby's site, with a asking price.

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one more thing,
Posted by gordon on 4/17/2006 10:46:00 AM

what is really cool about the house is that when you are on the street you can only see the garage and the level immediately above it.
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Whistler
Posted by Whistler on 5/12/2006 3:05:00 PM

Well the house is listed for about 2.5 million Can$ and would have been built for about $400/ sf Can$. Its nicce to see a bit of a departure in town and although it raised some eyebroughs it got a better discussion to the table on what is an appropriate mountain asethetic.

As is usually the case the drawing di not do it justice and that's why it took a long time to get approvals.
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Amazing House
Posted by chz on 5/29/2006 6:24:00 PM

I have personally stayed and partied in this house and it is amazing in every way. This is one of the few houses in Whistler that is in harmony with it's surroundings unlike all the Intrawet dictated cookie cutter homes which are really just boils on the beautiful Whistler landscape.
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Contemporary Artpeice
Posted by Anonymous on 1/24/2007 12:04:00 PM

This house is a contemporary piece of art and it can yours for $3,299,999-listed on sale... not bad.

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House
Posted by Michael Lin on 3/26/2007 8:35:00 PM

I worked for that guy and I think that house is an amazing piece of architecture.
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each to his own
Posted by fsiwfo on 10/12/2007 7:22:00 PM

I'd like to think that its pretty cool that Marc was able to have a dream of building and owning a piece of art like this and saw it through. Trees or no trees, good or bad taste, birkenstalks or nikes, there is nothing wrong with someone following their dreams...nice work marc.
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