MAYA WAY Residence
Mosier, Oregon
Architecture:
Janke Architecture
Structural Engineer:
Scott Bowman
Landscape design:
Rydmark Landscape
Status:
Under Construction
Situated within the dramatic landscape of Mosier, Oregon, this passive house is a deeply site-responsive home designed for a hydrogeologist and a chemist. Rooted in their passion for the natural world, the design integrates colors and materials drawn from the surrounding biome, creating a seamless connection between the home and its environment.
Passive house strategies guide every aspect of the design—from site planning to construction detailing—ensuring exceptional energy performance and comfort. Thoughtful massing and window placement optimize solar gain and cross-ventilation, while advanced moisture and air management techniques enhance durability in response to hyper-local climatic conditions. A green roof further reinforces the home's ecological footprint, blending it into the hillside and improving thermal performance.
Inspired by split, cleaved and broken geologic formations, the main home’s architecture is characterized by eroded plastered volumes split apart by weathered steel at the windows, a central interior stairway, and a East-West hallway axis and courtyard that connect key interior views to the landscape. Eroded plastered room volumes contrast against a weathered steel roof fascia, concrete flooring and warm wooden ceilings on the interior. The foundation design takes advantage of the steeply sloping site - a long linear home slightly broken along it’s long axis to follow the contours of thr site embedding the home into the land while framing expansive views of the Mosier syncline, Mosier Bluff and Mosier Valley.
Beyond a private retreat, the home serves as a accessible gathering place for family, friends, and visiting artists. Designed to age-in-place with elevator and accessible pathway to the the detached ADU—designed as a cabin for writers and creatives—anchors the site along a linear wall that extends beyond the roof, defining an outdoor room that embraces the landscape. The wall welcomes visitors while reinforcing a strong dialogue between built form and nature.
