Tour: A Warm Writers’ House on an Island in the Pacific Northwest

Writers Ann Medlock and John Graham never expected to build a house. But when they were priced out of their New York apartment, they found themselves on the other side of the continent, with land in the woods on Whidbey Island, Washington—and no house.

Through serendipitous timing, they were able to enlist the help of architect Christopher Alexander and The Center for Environmental Structure to design and build their dream home. The result is a warm embrace of a house, exultant with beauty, playfulness, and spirit, employing many of the patterns described in Alexander’s 1977 book, A Pattern Language. The Medlock-Graham House was later featured in Alexander’s seminal work, The Nature of Order, and cited by Alexander himself as one of his most successful buildings.

Read Ann’s writing about the house at https://annmedlock.com

For more about Christopher Alexander’s work, theory, and to learn his design process, visit https://buildingbeauty.org

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Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com:
Rocket Jr / Sayonara
J.F. Gloss / Hymn Utopia
Victor Lundberg / February Moon (Instrumental Version)
Rikard From / Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel