Designed in 1973, with construction continuing over several years, Parker’s “Windsong” is a tour de force of organic architecture & integrated design.
The siting of the home is orientated for passive solar light and heat and to benefit from the magnificent views of Vermont’s Green Mountains. The back of the house is literally tucked into the hill-side allowing the earth to heat in winter and cool in summer. The curves of the footprint echo the shape of the rolling hills. The use of copper sheathing; exposed structural beams; a massive centrally located stone fireplace and a southern wall of glass provide strength & resilience as well as warmth & beauty. Altogether the site, the structure and the materials are beautifully integrated to create a perfect house for Lincoln, Vermont.
In October 1949, years before editor Elizabeth Gordon met architect Alfred Browning Parker, House Beautiful magazine published the “Climate Control” issue. The issue presented in specific technical terms and for all regions of the United States: “… how to combine correctly all the technically fine and advanced products of the building trades to produce the perfect house for the place in which it was to be built.”
Parts 7 & 8 of 10 Things To Love look in depth at two homes in two distinct climates. The celebrated “Woodsong” in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida and “Windsong” a vacation retreat near Lincoln, Vermont. Parker acted as owner, designer & builder (“3-in-1”) and produced two unique and stunning examples of perfect houses.
© Bo Parker Photo, © Hearst Corporation
