2025 Award of merit - materials/methods innovation
woodland tea house
Mount Desert Island, Maine • Completed June 2023
Project Team:
Designed and built by Meredith Randolph with assistance by Doug Foster
Project Description:
This design was driven by low impact on multiple levels.
Location: A clearing that naturally developed when a huge pine fell during a storm. The approach is a natural path that winds through the woods under half-fallen trees that give the feeling of passing through doorways as you approach.
Foundation: Concrete forms set on the ground without disturbance to the earth, put in level with remnants of a stone wall left behind when the area was sheep pasture. There’s no connection to electricity or plumbing. This became a major influence in decisions of construction and materials used. Everything needed to be carried in. The only assistance at the site being a hand dolly, tools that ran on battery power, and the occasional helping hand from friends.
Structure: Leftover lumber from other projects. All wood was cut to size at the house and carried up the hill or cut with a hand saw. Boards over plywood as they are easier to carry up the hill. The building is air sealed with interior and exterior membranes.
Insulation: Sheep’s wool turned out to be uniquely well-suited. Carbon sequestering, non-toxic, easy to carry and install by hand. It’s naturally resistant to mold, which important as an unconditioned space is likely to have humidity fluctuations. It was a pleasure to handstuff into the floor, walls and ceiling.
Siding: Tulip Poplar bark shingles, because no other siding could blend the structure into the woods. This is a by-product of lumber production, maintenance free and long-lasting when installed correctly.
Roof shingles: Mostly leftovers of recycled rubber made to look like slate. Interior walls: Local cedar boards were selected for ease of carrying in, cutting by hand and resistance to insects.
Flooring: Leftover material from flooring the house. I made the entire latch assembly for the door and used a found deer antler as the handle. The door is a rejected order from a project many years ago. I cut it in half to make it a Dutch door and covered the outer face in boards.
Heat: The small, tight, insulated room heats up easily with the smallest cast-iron wood stove available and can burn fallen wood from the surrounding woods.
Project Metrics:
Bedrooms/Bathrooms: 0
Sq. footage: 144 sq ft
Air tightness: Well air sealed.
HVAC: Tiny wood stove for heat.
R-Value: Walls: R-18, Floor: R-30, Roof: R-40.
Highlights from the Judges:
“This is a unique project with a great narrative and a positive outcome. The exterior cladding solution was unique, sustainable, and beautiful. The process for cutting and moving materials, and the decision to minimally impact the site are all great. Nicely done.”