Photo: Kevin Scott / Olson Kundig

Cabin at Longbranch

Longbranch, Washington

Jim Olson’s reverence for nature and admiration of the site’s beauty is expressed in the design of his Cabin at Longbranch, located on Puget Sound and nestled amidst the towering fir trees of an ancient forest.

Design Principal
Jim Olson

The First Commission

In 1912, Jim Olson’s grandparents built a summer cottage on a forested site on Puget Sound. Olson spent summers and many weekends there as a child. When he was eighteen years old and a first‑year architecture student, his dad gave him five hundred dollars and said, “Go build a bunkhouse.” This was Olson’s first great opportunity. What began as a 200-square-foot bunkhouse has morphed through subsequent remodels (in 1981, 1997, 2003 and 2014) into a modest weekend house. Each successive addition and remodel has reused and integrated the previous structure rather than erasing it, revealing the history of the architecture and the process of its evolution.

In the 1980s, the retreat consisted of three tiny pavilions linked by wooden platforms. In 2003, the pavilions were connected by a unifying roof, creating a single form grounded onto the hillside and projecting out over the landscape. The living room’s large wall of glass frames a view of the adjoining grassy field and Puget Sound, visually blending the indoors and outdoors. In 2014, a primary bedroom and two guest rooms were added, creating a retreat of 2,400 square feet.

Palette & Materiality

The cabin is intentionally subdued in color and texture, allowing the lush natural surroundings to take precedence. Materials enhance this natural connection, reflecting the silvery hues of the overcast Northwest sky and tying the building to the forest floor. Simple, readily available materials are used: wood-framed walls are sheathed in plywood or recycled boards, inside and outside; doubled pairs of steel columns support beams that in turn support exposed roof structures.

Interior spaces appear to flow seamlessly to the outside as materials continue from inside to out through invisible sheets of glass. Three mature fir trees have been accommodated within the design and allowed to grow through openings in the deck, one of them exiting through an opening in the roof.

The cabin has been a work in progress since it began, with each transformation acknowledging the changing priorities of its designer: first a bunkhouse for friends, then an experimental weekend retreat for a young couple and family, and now, a quiet place for contemplation and creative work, and a comfortable place for visiting grandchildren, extended family and friends.

The Evolution of a Career

The cabin has also become a touchpoint for Olson’s work worldwide, with each iteration of the retreat marking a point of evolution in his architectural career. What has remained unchanged is Olson’s deep reverence for nature and his admiration of the site’s beauty.

In just about all of my work, the materials are inspired by those that would be natural to the site. Here at Longbranch, the driftwood color and the color of the fir trees comes right up into the house. It’s about bringing nature inside. It was also about using simple, readily available materials—the wood-framed walls are sheathed in plywood and recycled boards. Jim Olson, FAIA

Design Principal

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Olson Kundig