Tree House by Alchemy Architects
Tree House stands just off Squam Lake in Holderness, NH, United States, where Alchemy Architects compress a house into a precise, wooded footprint. The compact Passive House retreat draws on prefabricated construction and digitally crafted timber to shape a series of rooms that open wide to water, forest, and filtered northern light.
A narrow path threads through tall trunks before the house comes into view, timber siding echoing the vertical rhythm of the surrounding forest. Inside, warm wood planes and carefully cut openings catch lake light that glows across concrete floors and oak surfaces.
This small house is a 1,500 sf Passive House retreat in Holderness, New Hampshire, by Alchemy Architects, set just above Squam Lake. The project treats the building as a box of trees, carved within a forest clearing and lined with an oak interior that reads as a continuous timber shell. Interior surfaces, furniture, and sculptural elements share one language of wood, turning performance-driven construction into a tactile domestic landscape.
Living Among Timber Forms
Within the compact plan, digitally fabricated oak “trees” rise from floor to ceiling, branching into frames, screens, and balustrades that define each room. These parametric elements are not simply decorative; they channel light and air, mark thresholds, and give the interiors a clear grain that mirrors the forest outside. Walking from entry to lakefront living room, the eye moves from one timber figure to the next, reading a quiet rhythm rather than a series of isolated objects.
Kitchen As Warm Workshop
In the kitchen, pale cabinetry, black hardware, and a dark countertop gather into a precise, almost workshop-like composition. A tall window pulls the forest right up against the sink, so daily routines play out against mossy ground and trunks instead of a tiled backsplash. Overhead, exposed beams and a cylindrical timber light fixture repeat the vertical language of the digital trees, while polished concrete underfoot tempers the warmth of the wood-lined walls.
Rooms Opening To Water
Sliding glass walls erase the edge between interior and lake, turning the main living area into a covered terrace when the weather allows. A simple chaise, a lean lounge chair, and a low lamp sit just inside this opening, more like furniture on a porch than pieces in a conventional living room. Beyond, an outdoor dining table stands on the same floor finish, extending the social core of the house toward the dock and low shoreline.
Passive Envelope, Crafted Surfaces
Behind the calm interior palette, a prefabricated fiber-based envelope and a small amount of steel structure deliver Passive House performance. Walls, floors, and ceilings were assembled offsite, then wrapped in vertical timber cladding that continues inside as paneling and soffits. The controlled shell allows openings to be generous where it matters: round and oval windows puncture the upper level, framing slices of forest and sky like portholes, while deep overhangs protect glazed lakefront rooms from harsh sun.
At dusk, light spills from the circular openings and under the long canopy that links the main house to the nearby Boathouse, turning the timber volumes into soft lanterns among the trees. Interior wood tones deepen, concrete floors pick up reflections from the water, and the parametric trees retreat into shadow. The house rests in its clearing, a compact composition of forest material shaped into rooms for daily life.
Photography courtesy of Alchemy Architects
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