Wrapped in Cedar, the Dwell House Showcases the Texture and Beauty of Natural Wood
Designed by Norm Architects, the Dwell House embodies the Danish studio’s signature brand of Scandinavian simplicity. Warmth and tactility run through their designs at any scale, and the one-bedroom backyard house created in collaboration with Abodu is no exception. A focus on natural materials and light-filled spaces permeates the home’s 540 square feet, making it the ideal backdrop as a guesthouse, pool house, office, or gym.
The Dwell House is clad in Real Cedar, which comes in a natural or black finish, as shown here at the Abodu showroom in Los Angeles.
“We had to balance a broad reach with a unique aesthetic expression without having a specific client—and that was both a challenge and very rewarding,” says Norm Architects partner Sofie Thorning. “We looked at what generally creates a sense of wellbeing and used a simple and timeless design language to evoke feelings of comfort.”
The vertical cedar slats create a sophisticated exterior that echo the outdoor sconces designed by Brendan Ravenhill that provide adjustable, dimmable light.
Complementing the clean-lined, light-flooded interiors, the Dwell House exterior features Real Cedar siding that comes in a natural or black finish. Like all the materials and finishes chosen for the house, the cedar cladding brings quality, durability, and a high level of design to the project, marrying well with the building’s standing-seam aluminum roof and the engineered oak floors.
The warmth, grain, and variability of cedar glows under the sunshine at a Dwell House installed in Healdsburg, California.
“We went with Real Cedar because we wanted real wood cladding, and it was obvious to work with them—they have a great consortium of mills, and the material is set up to weather really nicely,” says Dwell editor-in-chief William Hanley. Additionally, Real Cedar harvests its wood from sustainably managed forests, lessening the home’s overall environmental footprint.
Various widths in the cedar cladding create an additional layer of texture and detail to the design.
Resistant to rot, decay, weather, and insects, cedar is naturally resilient and low-maintenance while bringing the texture and beauty of natural wood to the Dwell House. Because the material doesn’t contain pitch or resin, the wood lends itself to stains, oils, and finishes, allowing homeowners to customize the siding color. For an ADU designed to complement any main home, the team gravitated toward the flexibility of Western Red Cedar. “The idea is that this looks as good behind a mission revival as it does a contemporary house, but it still has an attitude all its own in things like the shift of width in the cedar cladding,” says Hanley.
Together with the standing-seam aluminum roof and the aluminum exteriors of the windows, the wood cladding creates a cohesive material palette.
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