Canyon House by Grunsfeld Shafer
Located at the mouth of the Little Cottonwood Canyon just south of Salt Lake City, Utah, Canyon House is sited on a steep and rugged foothill and takes full advantage of its spectacular mountainous environs. With a low profile and its emphasized horizontality, nearly half of the three-story house is buried below grade to reduce its apparent mass and respect the natural terrain. The Pavilion’s form is defined by a sculptural roof that floats above an expansive living room and several bedrooms which embrace the solitude of native grasses, wild flowers, scrub oak, granite outcroppings, and wildlife. Completely exposed, the living room features eighteen-foot high sheets of canted glass which contort toward panoramas of brilliant sunsets and thunderstorms that frequently engulf the Great Salt Lake valley and nearby Antelope Island.
