DONALDSON RESIDENCE

The Donaldson Residence stretches across a grassy slope facing Virginia's Southeast Mountains, reflecting the horizon's stepped profile in its roofline. Its receptive garden wall-like facade is punctuated, in the English Country Home manner, by a simple entry brow. The view from interior, passing under and past the reversed central stair, unfolds through clusters of French doors into a distant panorama of wind-blown grasses and a meadow pond. These doors line a continuous promenade hall, linking the major living spaces and opening onto an extended companion porch.

Although the house plan is contemporary--its rooms lined up in single-file along the hallway sequence of enfilade archways -- the classical detailing, stucco exterior, and farm-like massing give the house a timeless quality. The Donaldson Residence was designed in close collaboration with its owners.