The intention was to create a piece of art for a part of the house that craved ambiance and needed a central focus. The client suggested a representation of his home within the beautiful woodlands of the hillside.

My team and I spent an afternoon sketching the house and surrounding woods from different vantage points. From these we created a life-size drawing to show my client. We achieved dimension and perspective using tile shapes and color as well as some areas of relief — a few trees and the clapboards and windows on the house.

Although we made it for this specific location, the mosaic is framed and portable and if desired, can be moved to another location in the house.

Underneath “Mountain Home” is a fireplace for which we made all of the tile - inside and out. This helps to make the room a destination space. We made the tiles with plant pressings from the property for the fireplace surround and Firebox Tile in a satin creamy Ivory within the firebox.

Another fun part of this project was the house numbers for the exterior entry. The palette and imagery are intended to harmonize with the context as well as stand out just enough to be seen.

Other facts about the project:

Our client bought an old Cub Scout meeting house and dismantled it piece by piece. He repurposed all usable materials from this former structure for the new house he built. Because he loves and respects these woods, it was important that his house be nestled within the woods rather than to tower over them. He succeeded — creating a sizable house that still feels just right within its context.

3’-5” x 5’-5”, Portland, Oregon