DOGTROT HOUSE
Located in a rural landscape in North Carolina, Dogtrot House is a single-family home for living together with nature.
The house’s main living spaces are organized around an indoor-outdoor breezeway with sliding glass doors and shaded porches at both ends. The breezeway offers a central zone for gathering underneath a cathedral ceiling. It is at once an indoor-outdoor room, an open chamber for airflow, and a viewing portal out toward nature.
A pine ceiling, dark earthen tiles, board-formed concrete walls, and red posts - an homage to the color of Carolina clay - together compose a palette that is an ode to the elemental.
A central utility bar, featuring blackened steel floating stairs, a custom pass-through table with overhead storage, powder room, and fireplace, activates the breezeway while supporting an open plywood loft above.
Nature is welcomed here into the rituals of daily life. Glimpses of nature - a crop of treetops, a sliver of tree trunks, a swatch of sky - invite discovery and connection to the outdoors in every room.
Each space of the home is designed with flexibility in mind, easily reconfigurable for playing, working, or resting, so the house can grow, adapt, and evolve along with its inhabitants.
Inspired by its namesake, Dogtrot House applies the climatic approach of historic vernacular to a modern form that emphasizes shared spaces for flexible living.
Photos by Keith Issacs
TEAM:
Studio Becker Xu - Architecture & Interiors
Lysaght & Associates - Structural Engineer
BuildSense - Construction
Leo Gaev - Metalwork
Xylem Inc - Millwork
Keith Isaacs - Photography
AWARDS:
NCModernist George Matsumoto Prize -
Third Place Jury Award (2024)
First Place People’s Choice (2024)
PUBLICATIONS:
Braun Contemporary Interior Design (Aug 2025)
NC Architecture Unconventional Projects (July 2025)
PLAIN Magazine (Jan 2025)
Dezeen American Houses (Dec 2024)
Dwell Home Tours (Nov 2024)
Architectural Record Featured Houses (July 2024)
EXHIBITIONS:
CFAD HOUSE(ing) Exhibition (Feb 2026)
UNC Charlotte HOUSE(ing) Symposium (Nov 2024)
USModernist Modapalooza NC Tour (Sept 2024)
AIA Third Thursday: Emerging Voices (May 2024)
High Performance Home Tour (April 2023)