The House and the Landscape, designed by Inon Ben David, is a home in the Lower Galilee region of Israel. Featuring extensive use of natural materials, the two-story structure accommodates a family of six and includes elements created by the homeowner, who owns a custom metalwork shop. Open to its natural surroundings, the house also offers sweeping views of the valley and Mediterranean Sea.
The house is located in an expansion area in the Lower Galilee in Israel. The plot area is about half a dunam (approximately 0.12 acres), and the built-up area is about 250 square meters (2,690 square feet) spread over two floors. On the entrance level, the shared functions were planned: living room, kitchen, dining area, safe room (Mamad), guest bathroom, and a family work area situated under the staircase. On the upper residential floor, the master bedroom, three children’s rooms, and a general bathroom serving the family’s four children were designed.
The homeowners are a couple in their 40s with 4 children – young and teenagers. The father of the family owns Steel Gallery, a boutique custom metalwork shop responsible for many elements in the house, including window profiles, entrance door, pergolas, staircase, and more.
The plot on which the house was built is unique: it is extreme, without fences and barriers, open to the natural grove, and as such appears to be an integral part of it. From the west, it enjoys a perfect view of the valley landscapes and the Mediterranean Sea.
From the outset, it was important for the couple to create a yard that would serve as an important and central part of their daily routine – a kind of open public space under the sky where everything happens. The fact that it is fenceless creates an almost direct connection between it and the open landscapes and nature.
Since the house was built on a slope, and there are large height differences between the levels, it was designed in a receding section, making the built structure an integral part of the slope. The upper floor, the bedroom floor, sits partly on top of the entrance floor and partly on the mountainside soil – thus creating perfect exits to the yards and nature on both floors.
Moreover, it was important for the couple to implement as much as possible the use of organic and basic materials such as steel, fieldstone from Samaria used to cover some of the facades and interior walls, exposed polished concrete, and wooden furniture – most of which are made of plane and oak trees. The mineral plaster used to cover some of the facades and interior walls is also prominent. The windows, created by the homeowner from Belgian iron, add a delicate and minimalist dimension to the structure while giving it a slightly rough, rugged, and natural look.
The structure itself is geometric, and steel beams that define the floors were integrated around its perimeter. The roof is made of steel beams covered with wood, and its upper part is covered with sheet metal. In general, the prominent style is eclectic and combines modern and industrial elements with touches of Spanish design, which can be seen, for example, in the flooring of the external patio. Opposite it, the plaster and floating steel beams in the roof stand out, giving it a more industrial appearance. In doing so, we created contrast and a sense of depth in the facades: those covered with plaster stand out against the stone facades and appear to lean on each other.
The road level, where the parking is located, is about 3 meters lower than the entrance floor level. Stone steps made of local fieldstone lead to the house, at the end of which the external entrance hall is revealed, sitting under the floor of the residential floor and thus forming a kind of built pergola. To its right, an access path to the backyard was planned, and on the left, Israeli vegetation was planted, spiced with herb plants.
A glass wall rising to the peak height of the residential floor was planned on the eastern facade and brings in plenty of light. Through it, one also experiences the stairwell space in the best way. Opposite it, in a mirror image, a glass wall was planned from which there is an exit to an external patio embraced by the public functions. The fieldstone wall penetrates the building and continues as an integral part of the living room. From almost every corner of the house, one experiences the natural grove and the landscapes of the area.
We incorporated a lot of natural vegetation that is a direct continuation of the landscapes. We made extensive use of natural materials that give the various functions in the house an authentic and natural atmosphere. For example, we worked extensively with straw items, clay pots, wool rugs, and fixed and mobile furniture made from various types of wood.
The entrance door was created by the homeowner from rusty iron and master-line glass in a striped pattern, and upon opening it, a coat and shoe closet made of plane wood is revealed. The entrance floor was covered with polished concrete, and opposite the entrance door is the patio that further connects the interior to the exterior and serves as the center of attention.
The staircase, which is also the creation of the homeowner, is a real focal point, and underneath it is the work area that serves as the heart of the house, where parents work and children create and work. We incorporated wooden furniture items such as the table, stool, and chair. Near it, and on the axis connecting it to the dining area and kitchen, we created a pause corner where we hung a mirror under which we placed a console made of raw wood and decorative items. This area enjoys plenty of light and an optimal view of the landscapes as it is located exactly between the huge window from the east and the side of the exit window to the patio located on the western axis.
The dining area is especially large and can seat ten diners, made of iron legs and a cork board top. The kitchen is located on the left side of the patio, its shape is L-shaped, and in its center is a large island used for daily family meals and cooking. The kitchen fronts are made of oak wood, as are the island fronts, which are covered on the side facing the patio with tiles painted in botanical patterns. For the surfaces, we chose natural sand-colored marble, and above the center of the space floats a rusty iron construction created by the homeowner, on which natural vegetation grows, and in its center are five straw shades of different sizes.
The living room is located on the other side of the patio, to the right of the entrance door. It was designed to be intimate and hidden from view and is used for hosting and relaxation. It is surrounded by windows: one overlooking the patio, two more towards the view, and only one of its sides is built and covered with fieldstone. Its ceiling is stepped to two heights: the higher one is covered with plaster, and the lower one, which is a direct continuation of the built bridge that penetrates the living room at its end, is exposed concrete. The meeting between the materials and heights creates a feeling of a kind of cube floating in the air.
We designed a built-in wooden bench for seating and storage from wall to wall that brings in a dimension of warmth, next to which we combined a pampering leather sofa under which an ethnic wool rug imported from abroad is spread. In the center of the space, we placed a wooden table, and in the corner, we placed an armchair made of a wooden construction with a seat and backrest made of leather straps.
The patio can be accessed from the three main functions on the ground floor: from the kitchen, from the work area and staircase, and from the living room. We chose to pave it with black and white painted checkerboard tiles in Spanish style. One of its walls penetrates the living room and optimally connects the exterior to the interior. Another side is open to the yard, the grove, and the landscapes. In the center of the surface, we incorporated a wooden dining area, and around the perimeter, jars and planters. Above it, we created a metallic pergola ceiling in which we created a division into squares that we covered with bamboo rolls in different orientations that together as a whole create a unique look.
The staircase is also the creation of the homeowner and is composed of steel sections that were precisely cut by laser and joined together. The treads are made of wood and the railing of stainless steel mesh. The residential floor was paved with oak parquet in a herringbone pattern, and the bridge in it leads on one side to the master bedroom and on the other side to the children’s wing. The twins share a shared room, and two of the children were planned private rooms. All four share a common bathroom.
The bridge best represents the meeting between the prominent areas in the house – such as the patio in the west and the eastern glass wall – and the dominant materials in the various spaces: exposed concrete, mineral plaster, wooden boards, and parquet flooring. Also prominent are the air conditioning duct made of sheet metal painted black and straw light fixtures floating above the double space.
The family’s bedrooms enjoy a perfect view of the landscape and sit under the sloping ceiling, made of steel beams and wood cladding, which starts at a height of 2.8 meters and reaches a peak of 3.8 meters. The walls of the children’s rooms were covered with mineral plaster and designed according to their age and taste. The master bedroom is conceptually divided into a bedroom with a wall-to-wall oak wardrobe and a bathroom, between which a steel partition combined with master-line glass separates. It is mostly open (except for the wet area) and crosses the large window overlooking the view of the grove and the Galilee mountains. The toilet area is hidden behind a built wall, and the space is covered with porcelain granite tiles: the floor in light gray and the walls with brick tiles in terracotta color.
