House on a Hill
Rising like an ebony-hued cube in Hillsdale, New York, House on a Hill frames a spatial narrative where resilience and nature take centrestage. The brainchild of Forma, the home becomes a sanctuary where vistas, quietude and warmth settle into place beneath open blue skies.
Before the house took shape, Miroslava Brooks and Daniel Markiewicz, principals of Forma, were already designing around what mattered most to them. House on a Hill is an ode to their families, reframing the act of stepping away from the din and basking in the presence of loved ones. Poised at the crest of a gentle hill, the structure takes on an animated presence within a 3.6-hectare wooded clearing, oriented toward rare views of the untamed Catskills to the west and the rolling Berkshires to the east.
Set amid the lush greenery of Hillsdale in the Hudson Valley region, the building reads as a quiet monolith on Pumpkin Hollow Road North. Up close, it becomes more dynamic, shifting in appearance as you move around it. Anchored to the site along its western facade, the shared retreat gradually rises on a set of angled ‘legs’ to the east, lifting the main floor to create a recessed alfresco area – where pavilion and enclosure blur into one. “We wanted the built form to appear almost scaleless, as a piece of sculpture situated in the landscape,” says Brooks. “It’s a nod to the artistic communities of Hudson Valley and Berkshires.”
Cedar siding and pentagonal windows form the home’s outer envelope, a permeable interface through which the indoors and outdoors stay in conversation. Outside, the dark-stained, finely grained cedar gives way to warm interiors, making the residence feel as though it’s carved from a single, whole mass.
“This project embodies the story of first-time homebuilding, reflecting broader shifts in how Americans visualise space, location and lifestyle.”
Inside, the bicoastal firm’s take on domesticity is revealed, expressed through bold pops of colour and an unmistakable sense of play. “This project embodies the story of first-time homebuilding, reflecting broader shifts in how Americans visualise space, location and lifestyle. What began as a simple idea to build a weekend home during the pandemic turned into a five-year odyssey of design,” says Markiewicz.
Filled with sunlight and a mix of soaring and more intimate spaces, the 139-square-metre, three-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on a 65-square-metre footprint – yet feels larger than its size suggests. The double-height living and dining area draws the two families together around the fireside, with the fireplace cleverly folded into the surrounding millwork. Ensuite bedrooms rest along the western edge, set apart for privacy while still capturing expansive views.
House on a Hill holds a gentle tension between seclusion and endurance. It paints an intimate portrait of both Brooks and Markiewicz’s respective journeys: two children and two cross-country moves later, they set out to build from the ground up on new soil, guided by hard-earned lessons and memories.
