Waterfall House

Scott Wilson Architect LLC

The Waterfall house is an 8,085 square foot two-story contemporary style home on a 12 acre lot in South Franklin Tennessee. It is in a beautiful rural area with large farms and rolling hills. The rural site is heavily wooded and the house site is near the highest point on the property and is surrounded by trees. The owner wanted a home with a unique plan that overwhelmed the senses with natural light, ventilation, connection to nature, and large spaces. The building footprint is quite small and the location is very challenging due to the severe sloping terrain. The elevation rises nearly 30 feet from the front of the building site to the rear. However, these site challenges created some opportunities for some interesting design features that drive the overall concept for the home. One feature is the driveway that goes under the master bedroom to the garages at the rear of the site. This also made for a perfect location for a covered drop off and entry point into the home entering at the lower level, taking a staircase up and walking over a glass bridge to get to the main level. Another feature created by the sloping nature of the site was the position and configuration of the swimming pool and terrace. The infinity edge pool is the dominant feature of the front elevation of the home. As guests arrive they will drive past a 28 foot tall waterfall that is framed by the massing of the main home and the detached pool house.
The house is oriented such that the primary elevations face southeast. Large windows make up a majority of the exterior treatments of these exposures but the home is heavily screened by dense woods, and a combination of deep overhangs that will reduce the amount of direct summer sun that hits the windows. In the winter these large windows will soak up the warming sunlight to naturally warm the interior. Energy efficient lighting, appliances and equipment are additional requirements of the program.