Five Breezeways for Your Modern Mountain Home
Almost every house we design has a breezeway. It separates the social side of a home from the private side, and it turns the walk between them into a moment of its own. These are the five we use most.
The first thing you notice is the light. You leave the kitchen, step into a covered passage, and for a few steps the house opens to the land on both sides. Then you are in the bedroom wing, and the noise of dinner is behind you.
A breezeway is a covered link between two parts of a house. Two volumes joined by a low connector read as calm and settled into the land.
The Dog Trot
One of the oldest ideas in American home building: two buildings, one roof, and an open passage where the breeze runs through. We use it to link a garage, a guest cabin or a studio to the main house, so every building on the land reads as one home.
Best for: larger sites with more than one building.
What makes it work: a roof that continues the main roofline, open sides that frame the land, and one floor material throughout.
The Gallery
Glass on both sides. Walking through it to the bedrooms feels like leaving the kitchen behind. We treat it as a room, not a hallway: sometimes a bench, a few books and a plant; sometimes nothing at all, so the views take over.
Best for: separating living areas from bedrooms, on sites with views on both sides.
What makes it work: glass on both long walls, one place to stop, and a view down its length that ends on art or the land.
The Threshold
Our most requested breezeway, and the main entry of the house. One side is all glass, facing the arrival. The other is solid and holds an office or a mudroom closet. Boots, coats and skis on one side; the view on the other.
Best for: homes that need a mudroom or office without adding a room.
What makes it work: full glass on the arrival side, a solid wall behind it, and a clear line from the front door to the main living space.
The Reading Nook
A breezeway that widens just enough for a built-in bench under a picture window. Morning light, a book, the view in front of you. A few extra feet of width turn circulation into one of the favorite spots in the house.
Best for: a strong view, and a quiet corner away from the main living space.
What makes it work: a bench deep enough to sit cross-legged, a picture window with the sill at bench height, and light from the side.
The Four Seasons
Our favorite space: a glass room between the main home and a guest house, with a table for morning coffee or late-night wine. Glass doors on both sides open completely, and the room becomes a porch. In summer, motorized screens come down. In winter, radiant ceiling heaters keep it warm.
Best for: homes with a guest house, and families who love to host.
What makes it work: glass doors that open fully on both sides, motorized screens, radiant heat, and room for a table for six to eight
We Help You Choose
The right breezeway depends on what it connects, and that starts with the land: where you arrive, where the views are, where the sun sits in the afternoon, and how you want to move through your days.
That is the conversation we have before we draw anything. We study the site with you, get to know how you live, and show you which breezeway fits.