Seattle architects Joshua Brevoort and Lisa Chun of Zeroplus designed this glass and steel cabin for their most important client: Josh's mother, Peggy. Set on the Swinomish Indian Reservation between old-growth forest and the waters of Skagit Bay, it is part structural experiment, part family love letter. Wrap-around glazing hangs from an interlocking steel beam system that the local neighbors openly bet would never hold. It held. The result is a transparent pavilion where the forest lives inside with you.
Zeroplus, founded in 1999, approaches architecture as a response to place rather than style. Here, the brief was ecological and personal: disturb as little as possible, borrow as much light as the structure allows. The steel frame is assembled like a three-dimensional puzzle—each piece necessary only once the whole is complete. The contractors pulled it off. The neighbors had taken bets that they wouldn't.
The ground floor is one open volume: pale timber floors, sliding glass walls that retract to dissolve the threshold between inside and out, a wood-burning stove as the social anchor, and a generous dining table for the whole group. The kitchen is fully equipped. Upstairs, two simple bedrooms and a loft are tucked beneath the oversized roof—one with a queen bed, one with a twin bed, and the loft with two twins. Above them are geometric skylights, views into the canopy, and the sensation of spending the night in the trees. The bathroom has heated floors, a rain shower, and frosted glass windows on three sides.
About the Space
A wide outdoor staircase descends from the back of the cabin to a stone-surfaced patio with a dining table and barbecue. The views from here are the main event: Hope Island, Whidbey Island, and the Olympic Mountains across the water. A few steps beyond the patio, private stairs lead directly to the beach, where crabs and clams abound. A half mile down the beach to the north is Lone Tree Point, a significant landmark for the Swinomish tribe.
This vacation home for rent in La Conner, Washington sleeps up to five guests in two bedrooms and a loft.
Ground floor: open-plan living and dining, fully equipped kitchen, one full bathroom with heated floors and rain shower
Upper floor: one bedroom with a queen bed, one bedroom with a single, an open loft area with two singles
Fully-equipped kitchen, coffee maker, wood-burning stove, firewood provided, barbecue, stone patio, outdoor dining, heated bathroom floors, rain shower
Location
The thing that gets you first is that Josh and Lisa built this for their mother. The structural ambition they brought to it makes that more touching, not less: an interlocking steel web holding up walls of glass on a forest lot that hadn't been touched in 40 years. Sleep in the loft and you'll understand why it was worth the risk. Skylights directly above you, the canopy close enough that you can watch it move. When you eventually leave, Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro on the Swinomish Channel is 10 minutes away: waterfront deck, farm-to-table cooking, local fish that came off a boat that morning. A good reason to come down from the trees.
Beachcombing and bird watching from your own shoreline, kayaking on Skagit Bay (bring your own or rent locally), hiking the trails of Kukutali Preserve, a tribal-state co-managed park on the Swinomish Reservation (three minutes by car, or a two-mile beach hike), visiting MoNA, the Museum of Northwest Art, in downtown La Conner.
Firewood and a barbecue are provided. There are heated bathroom floors and a rain shower. Pets are not permitted. The cabin sits on the Swinomish Indian Reservation; guests are asked to be respectful of the land and its surroundings. A car is necessary as the cabin is set off a quiet rural road, and the nearest town, La Conner, is approximately 10 minutes away.
La Conner has a cultural density that surprises people. Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) occupies a dedicated building on First Street and holds a permanent collection focused on the Northwest School, the mid-century movement that put Pacific Northwest painters on the map nationally. The monthly gallery walk, Art Under the Stars, runs on the second Saturday of each month. For dinner, Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro on the Swinomish Channel is the most consistently cited address in town: farm-to-table Northwest cooking, a waterfront deck, and an ingredient list drawn from Skagit Valley farms and local boats. Kukutali Preserve—a first-of-its-kind tribal-state co-managed park—is a three-minute drive (or two-mile beach hike) and offers shoreline hikes on Kiket Island.
La Conner, Skagit County, Washington, USA. Nearest airport: Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA, 82 miles)
Spring through fall for settled weather. Spring brings the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and peak birdwatching in the surrounding farmlands.
