Riverfold House
From the beginning, the architecture sought not just to sit within this landscape, but to amplify the experience of it—to deepen awareness of the river’s power, the urban and industrial context just across the water, and the sublime drama of sky and rock.
Riverfold House
Bend, OR
6,500 SF
Designer Notes
Set along a downtown riverfront—urban yet profoundly wild—this family home becomes both interface and refuge: immersed in the power of the river while offering privacy from its public edge. Anchored to a basalt outcrop, the house follows the energy of the rapids in a long, linear form carved by a series of courtyards. These notches pull the landscape inward, creating moments of stillness within the flow. The roof traces the memory of surrounding landforms, tilting and folding to frame the ever-shifting high desert sky. Inside, spaces hover between cliff and current, heightening the sensation of dwelling above water. The material palette is inseparable from place—silvered cedar weathers into the landscape, while its fresh interior expression lends a luminous, tactile calm.
People
Lewis Williams / Scott Barton-Smith / Jake Freauff / Jennifer Fowler / Corey Martin
