Beauty in Simplicity

Simple doesn’t always equate with easy, but the team behind this Karns Hillside home welcomed the challenge.

This home on a hillside in West Jackson is as simple as its building site was complicated. But this simplicity wasn’t easy to achieve. “The site was complex—it had a compound slope,” say Rich Assenberg and Nathan Gray, founders of and principal architects at the Jackson-based firm kt814. “We spent a lot of time understanding the site before we found the move that would tame it,” says Assenberg. “It was a simple move that took some exploration,” adds Gray. kt814 enjoys studying a site and investing time in how to best utilize its unique characteristics. “The process of discovering what we can use architecturally to help enhance a site—that’s exciting to us,” the architects say.

After kt814 finalized this home’s design, Alternative Building Solutions was chosen to general contract and assemble the team; local custom cabinet shop Stepek Custom Carpentry did the millwork. Mountainscapes did the project’s landscaping, which dovetailed with the “simple move” that kt814 made. “Our move was burying the primary suite to create a private courtyard and entry procession,” Assenberg says. Casey Holladay, landscape construction manager at Mountainscapes, says his team assisted in a cool rooftop garden on this part of the home.

“At the end of the day, Mountainscapes’ goal is that clients get exactly what they want,” Holladay says. “We use our knowledge and decades of experience to inform and guide them in selecting landscaping that will protect their home and make it as beautiful as it can be.” On the living roof above the primary suite, Mountainscapes worked with the homeowners and ABS to design and plant herbs in elevated beds. “This isn’t something that is part of every project we do. kt814’s design and the site itself gave us a unique canvas to work on,” Holladay says.

It took the entire team working together to realize the homeowners’ vision.
—Mike Hudacsko
Owner, Alternative Building Solutions

Inside, details include a plaster finish and custom millwork throughout, triple-pane European windows, a living room ceiling designed to optimize acoustics, and a music room. “Every cabinet in this house was custom built,” says Brian Stepek, founder of Stepek Custom Carpentry, which makes everything by hand rather than relying on a CNC machine to cut parts and pieces. “Handmade cabinetry allows us to have more customization, which, for this project, included making cabinet boxes that would hold 600 pounds of records hanging off a wall. Working with the homeowner and the architects to customize the cabinetry and bring their vision to life was a challenge we greatly enjoyed.”

“I love to use unique products in a thoughtfully designed home. The detailing in this house has been taken to another level, above and beyond most custom-built homes,” says Mike Hudacsko, owner of Alternative Building Solutions. “The result is a product that is beautifully integrated into its site and is custom from beginning to end. In addition to the aesthetic, the insulation, heating systems, living roof, and technology have brought this home to the highest levels of energy efficiency. It really is designed to maximize the functionality of this impressive space. This is a simple home that, because of its design and finishes, is actually anything but. It took the entire team working together to realize the homeowners’ vision.”