Upside-down House:
One of Poore & Company’s earliest projects was this upside down house that features all the living space on the upper floor in the tree canopy where the best ocean views are. Bedrooms and private spaces are on the lower level. This allows for privacy in the woods on a small lot with a commanding view of the ocean over the rooftops of the houses across the street. The house was not only built upside down but also inside out, in that all of the site preparation and construction was done from within the footprint of the house. This left all of the native species and natural beauty of the immediate surroundings completely untouched. The house literally grew out of the ground the way a spring bulb pushes up through the soil. When the house was completed, only then was an arborist brought in to surgically prune out branches to reveal the desired views of the water beyond. This created in effect an unveiling to the community of the new construction.
Neighbor after neighbor came by and offered complements on how nicely the “renovation” fit the neighborhood, and then would look quizzical and say I don’t really remember a house being there…These were the best complements a new house on the block could possibly receive. Over the next twenty-six years of its life, the house hosted endless family parties, community organizations, and other social events comfortably accommodating up to a hundred people in the modest one thousand square feet of top floor living space. When it was not bustling with social activity, it held one or two people in a cozy light filled shroud of intimacy. Whether bathing in dappled daylight or basking in the woody evening warmth by firelight the space has continued to provide a safely held haven in the treetops while commanding the Atlantic beyond.
