This is the Cooper Point House by architect Mickey Muenning, an eco-architecture practitioner who has practice for over 30 years in Big Sur on the sunny coast of California but has received relatively little recognition for his work in the field of “green”. What I love about this house in particular is that it doesn’t look like a building that was built and then some plants were designed to sit atop the structure, but rather it looks like the structure was designed to sit beneath the plants.

The understanding of the land is what makes this house work so well. The house is designed such that it fits seamlessly with the landscape but at the same time, takes advantage of it for it’s protection and beauty. It reminded me a bit of the Nine Houses project in Dietikon, outside Zurich, Switzerland by architect Peter Vetsch. Except those seemed a little more hobbit-like and more forced. Had they been on the coast and taking advantage of the views like the Cooper Point House, they might have been better but instead they focused inward and ignored their surrounding. On one hand it can be seen as fostering a sense of community but on the other, it feels like they just popped out of the ground versus being set into the landscape and to live in harmony with it.

The interior of the house itself is beautiful and feels very open and airy, not at all like one is underground. There is a skylight and plenty of sun in this 2,745 square foot home with it’s three bedrooms. There are concrete walls on two sides and all-glass walls on the others. I love the large glass windows that look out over the sweeping grasses and jagged coastline. There is a direct connection with the landscape, both surrounding and beyond.

Seen over at DesignBoom