Lookout House
Area source: Published area figures conflict. Style and category are editorial classifications.
Faulkner Architects
House and wooded slope
A house with a volcanic streak
The red-orange glass gets your attention. The cut through the hillside holds it.
The most memorable thing about Lookout House is also its easiest distraction: a streak of red-orange glass against heavy concrete. It is an irresistible image. But the house becomes more interesting when you follow the narrow slot through the building and see how movement is organized around the slope.
Faulkner ties that colored light to the site’s volcanic history. Basalt and walnut carry the material story further, giving the strong concrete forms a more varied register. There is an appealing tension here between the weight of the enclosure and the intensity of the light passing through it.
The useful idea is the incision. A passage can do much more than connect rooms; it can make the shape of the ground legible. Lookout suggests starting a hillside design with that journey, then letting the elevations follow. The spectacular glass works because there is already a spatial idea underneath it.
Completed in 2018, as listed by ArchDaily. Conflicting published area figures are omitted.
An editorial reading of published photographs and project information; no site visit or owner interview is implied.
Project information: ArchDaily ↗
Further reading: Faulkner Architects ↗
Original summary and editorial interpretation by Tahoe Design Review. This is not an on-site review or a claim of affiliation with the architect or publication. Sources consulted October 4, 2026. Profile retained from the opening collection.
Photography is shown as a design-reference preview. Republication permission has not been confirmed.
Editorial disclosure: A member of the editorial team previously worked at Faulkner Architects. This selection does not claim that team member’s involvement in this project.