Looking nothing less than like a very big bug (with a canted chimney as antennae!), this is an intriguing house for several reasons.  For one, well, it’s a bug!  For two, the amazing shingle work on all those sinuous surfaces is a work of art.  For three, the house is an accordion.

Built as an extension to an existing cabin, the new addition contracts in the winter for heat conservation, while in summer it stretches its head, increasing the interior space, revealing many windows, and, just as amazingly, to cantilever and suspend itself (and those windows) over the adjacent stream.  Whether extended or retracted, the bulbous wood shape lets it blend in with the surrounding forest, embracing its site through details such as the sod roof at the entry.

The inside is as equally unique as the shingled exterior, lined with furs for that perfect “yep, now I’m in the belly of the bug” feel.  Also cozy, surrounded by fuzziness and warmed by the fire, a nice winter hideaway.  The existing cabin becomes the bedroom, with its own unique cave-like feel through the black fabric walls.

Very cool.  Creative and very much of its geographic place.

Dragspelhuset by 24H Architecture.