When architect Andrew Montgomery first pulled up to his clients’ house in Arch Cape, Oregon, there were logs in the driveway, courtesy of the sizable swells that come with the coast’s king tides. At just 28 feet above sea level and as close as you can get to the water without being on the beach, Montgomery could tell the home had enviable views. “I do mainly coastal homes, and this is one of the most spectacular sites,” he says. The only problem? The house could still be encroached by larger waves.

In the dining room, interior designer Michelle Dirkse placed an architectural black wood table front and center for prime mealtime views.

Photography by Rafael Soldi

The owners, Seattleites who had been married two hours south in Salishan 20 years before (and visited the coast regularly), had bought the small cabin on 2.3 acres in 2012, but eventually tired of the immense wear and tear it suffered over time. “It was a cute little cabin, but it was like it was built out of Lincoln Logs,” says the owner. “There were water stains inside. There were ants that lived in the walls. They would swarm occasionally in the summer on a warm day, and we’d have thousands of little black flying ants coming out of the walls, and we had to vacuum them all up.”

(Left) Walnut wood carries throughout the house, balancing plaster walls and concrete floors while reflecting the textures and tones of the beach outside. (Right) Walnut walls bring warmth to the living room, where Dirkse layered a custom sectional and a large, curved area rug in beach-glass blue.

Photography by Rafael Soldi

The couple reached out to Montgomery at the Portland-based firm Terraforma Architects for a rebuild plan, with the idea of expanding the footprint and making the house more durable and resilient. Additionally, they wanted the next incarnation to prioritize an unfussy, natural palette and capture the incredible views offered in so many directions, from the ocean’s horizon line to the tangle of coastal forest.

Working with I&E Construction, Montgomery delivered a 4,200-square-foot, two-story design with a stepped façade that comes to the point of a ship’s prow at the front, all atop a pass-through foundation. “The whole house, except for the roof, is concrete,” says the architect, who specified insulated woodchip/cement building blocks from Oregon called Faswall. Exterior “deflection walls” further slow down any oncoming water, while inky Shou Sugi Ban siding lets the house recede into the landscape, and is more durable and rot resistant. Floor-to-ceiling glass meets the clients’ brief to capture the incredible views, and a solar array keeps them prepped for power outages.

“We didn’t want to have to fuss. It’s a place to relax, not a place to do work and cleanup.”—Homeowner

For the interior, the owners opted for polished concrete floors, tadelakt plaster (a waterproof and breathable material), and walnut accent walls. They tapped Seattle interior designer Michelle Dirkse, who was also working on their condo in the city, to complete the scheme. “I knew that they wanted concrete floors, walnut, and plaster walls, and I took that and ran with it,” Dirkse says.

Most important to the clients, was to keep the natural beauty of the site as the star of the show. “We wanted the inside of the house to be fantastic, but we didn’t want it to overwhelm or compete with what you see outside,” the owner explains. Dirkse responded accordingly, starting with the living room, and its custom, wide-angled sectional set-up for wave watching. In front of it sits a coffee table that is actually a Sitka spruce stump salvaged from the property, then given an ebony treatment by a local woodworker. “I think of [the home style] as softly modern with a focus on organic shapes,” says Dirkse. To that end, many pieces veer sculptural, like the dining room’s angular black wood table and the primary suite’s floating soaking tub placed before a window.

The house’s charred Shou Sugi Ban siding integrates seamlessly with the waterfront landscape.

Photography by Rafael Soldi

In the kitchen,Henrybuilt systems add a sophisticated charcoal-gray accent to walnut cabinetry. The primary suite was designed as a soothing sanctuary; Dirkse fit a home office behind the headboard wall, providing space for productivity without interrupting the peaceful setting.

Photography by Rafael Soldi

When discussing the options for kitchen cabinetry, Dirkse remembers telling the owners: “It would be my dream to work with Henrybuilt,” the Seattle-based storage systems company. After a tour of the showroom, they were sold, and now walnut and charcoal-toned units are woven throughout the home as a connective thread, including the kitchen, the bathroom vanities, and the laundry room. There’s even a built-in desk niche in the primary suite.

Such is how the renewed home marries style and function, practicality with panache. Even the custom dog bath is sleek, covered in a solid surface material that looks like limestone but is easy to clean. After all, vacation homes should be low maintenance, even with kids, dogs, and sand in tow. “We didn’t want to have to fuss,” says the owner. “It’s a place to relax, not a place to do work and cleanup.”