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“If Le Corbusier saw houses as machines for living, then I see this house as my machine for skiing,” said Rick Cook, cofounder of COOKFOX, of his newly designed project in upstate New York.
That “skiing machine”—measuring a little over 3,000 square feet across three stories—was designed by the architect himself. Sited deep in the North Country, the alpine-inflected contemporary home rests on a wooded acre within Bear Valley, a ravine next to the rolling hills of Titus Mountain and directly in the path of a ski trail. When the opportunity to purchase a parcel of land in the valley came up, Cook jumped on the chance to create his interpretation of a family-oriented, purpose-built machine for Adirondack living.
“Ours is the first modern structure in the valley, so we had to balance our aesthetic inclinations with a sensitivity to the context and history of the site,” Cook explained. To do that, he looked at the historic Adirondack homes neighboring the property, copying their basic shapes and forms, echoing their deep dormers and front porticos. These architectural elements also reminded Cook of other styles of homes found in snowy climes, specifically Swiss chalets and Nordic lodges. Cook used cedar inside and outside the house to maintain the traditional wood material of those typologies. He wrapped the exterior in blackened cedar paneling and outfitted the soffits, railings, and outdoor staircase in clear-coated cedar boards. However, a subtle decorative touch was introduced, though still in keeping with his modernist inclinations: Cook cut ski marker shapes (diamonds, squares, and circles demarcating trail difficulty levels) into the building’s balustrades. The geometric motif cleverly broadcasts the home’s raison d’être more than typical stencil-cut hearts and evergreen trees.
That explicit connection to skiing wasn’t relegated to mere decoration, though. The lowest level of the house was designed to be ski in, ski out. Cook embedded the home into an incline, meaning a pit stop while descending the mountain via the trail would be easy. A covered terrace with storage for skis opens to a “boot-on” hallway (furnished with commercial-grade carpet) that leads to a tiled powder room. “Having a bathroom you can run into with your boots still on is a huge luxury. Every ski family would smile knowing this exists,” said Cook.
Walk up the stairs, and you’re in the heart of the home: a double-height, open-concept floorplan with room for cooking, eating, and lounging. Cook used cedar again for the interiors, shellacking and staining them all white—he is a modernist, after all. To combat that monochrome abundance, he made several openings along the east, north, and west sides for picture windows and sliding glass doors connected to a covered balcony, which looks out over the forest’s canopy. “When it snows, being in there is like what I imagine being inside a snow globe would feel like,” Cook said. Two ancillary bedrooms and a full bath complete the first floor. The primary bedroom and bathroom, shared by Cook and his wife, Ellen, occupy the top floor.
In keeping with Cook’s professional reputation as a leader in sustainable design, he ensured his ski home reached the highest possible metrics of efficiency and thermal comfort—without breaking the bank. An energy recovery ventilator and R60 insulation in the ceiling keep the air in the house clean and comfortable year-round. High-performance window panes filled with argon gas keep drafts from seeping through the large aluminum-clad wooden frames. The front door reached an impressive 1.48 ACH50 when a blower door test was performed—twice as efficient as what code dictates for a home in this northern climate zone (6a). “Budget is always a concern when trying to DIY sustainability,” explained Cook, “but we got the house pretty close to Passive House standards at less than $400 per square foot.”
Unlike Cook’s primary residence downstate, which took 20 years to complete, the Bear Valley house was move-in-ready in just 16 months—COVID-19 supply troubles notwithstanding. Cook and his family have enjoyed two winters in it now. “Every house—whether for yourself or a client—is about fulfilling hopes and aspirations beyond mere shelter,” said Cook. “For our family, this house perfectly articulates its purpose: a place for having a great time together.”
Anna Gibertini is a freelance design journalist, copy editor, and sometimes marketer.