When a Seattle dentist and entrepreneur bought an abandoned RV park in the Methow Valley the man was mostly looking for a getaway from the city. “I grew up in Poland,” he tells The Buzz. “We love to get outside into nature and away from the crowds."
Situated a two and a half hour drive from Seattle via Highway 20, the Methow Valley, surrounded by the eastern slopes of the Cascades, is one of the top hiking destinations in the Northwest. While Seattle averages just 58 days of sunshine every year, Methow gets 300. People call it the Smiling Country.
The owner allowed the land to return to its natural state, a mountain meadow, then decided to build some accommodations for his guests. To create something unique that would fit into the environment, he turned to the award-winning Seattle architectural firm of Olson Kundig, a team that has tackled everything from museums, houses and churches to mixed use projects spread from Hollywood to Seoul. The goal of their designs is to have a positive effect on people’s lives by bridging the gap between nature, culture and people, and by opening their buildings to inspiring surroundings.
Each "rolling" hut comes equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, fireplace and Wi-Fi. [Photo by Tim Bies/Olson Kundig]
Tom Kundig, co-owner of the firm, and the winner of numerous awards, is known for his use of rugged materials, left in raw or natural states to soften over time with exposure to the elements – and to human touch. The veteran of numerous cabin designs, he took on the challenge of designing the ideal structures for the Seattle entrepreneur's property. The result, a grouping of rolling huts, provides guests with simple lodging with unequaled views of the surrounding mountains.
“The Rolling Huts are designed to connect people to the natural landscape, and to one another,” Kundig says. “The huts, perched on wheels which lift the structures above the meadow, are designed to move, and the wheels allow the owner to modify the hut locations if there is a change in visitor program, as well as elevating the structures up above the site, which is a floodplain in an alpine river valley. In addition, the wheels allow the huts to touch lightly on the land, reducing their impact and providing space for native grasses to grow below and around each structure.”
Kundig sees some parallels to the tiny house movement in his rolling hut design. “The construction of each rolling hut is simple,” he says. “It is, in essence, an offset, steel-clad box on a steel and wood platform. Walls are topped by clerestory windows, over which a panel roof floats in an inverted, lopsided ‘V.’ At the north end of each hut, a double-paned sliding glass door opens to the outside. Living occurs not only in the 200 square feet inside the box, but also on the 240 square feet of covered deck space surrounding it.”
The six rolling huts are grouped as what Kundig describes as “a herd” facing the stupendous mountain views. “Each is sited toward a view of the mountains – and away from the other structures,” he says. “Interior finishes – cork and plywood – are simple, inexpensive, and left as raw as possible. Exteriors are durable, no-maintenance materials: steel, plywood, and car-decking. The raw character of the materials responds and integrates with the natural setting.”
Olson Kundig’s rolling huts were completed in 2007. While he still spends time at his cabin in the area, he has opened the rolling huts to visitors coming to explore Methow Valley. Today, the original six huts in the meadow have been joined by a group of safari-style canvas tents on the banks of the Methow River, as well as the onsite Woodstone Pizzeria.
Each hut is equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, fireplace and Wi-Fi with a sleeping platform for two. Modular furniture in the living area can be reconfigured to sleep two more. A portable toilet is adjacent to each hut with full bathrooms and showers housed in a centrally located barn a short distance away.
The Seattle entrepreneur/dentist still loves to spend time in the area. “It’s a place where your heart beats slower,” he says. “A place where you can hear nature.”