The house is owned by Ed Daniels and is located on 2124 Danmore Dr. in the East Foothills. Ed Daniels is a local architect for Hummel Architecture and was very generous when we had the opportunity to interview him. He explained the process in which he designed his home and how the house manifested his inspirations.
First, the Daniels house was built in 2002 by Hummel Architects. The house was designed (a process that took one year) by Ed Daniels himself, and was built in 9 months by the Hummel Architecture team. The house itself is composed of Cedar wood and various other organic, sustainable materials. The style of the house is Northwest Modern. The primary components of a Northwest Modern house are the aspects of contemporary design crossed with natural materials. The Daniels house sits high in the foothills, with three cross-hatched roofs, held by six 60 foot wooden rafter beams. The challenge, as Daniels put it, was “swinging the 60 foot beams over his neighbor’s houses”. The roof itself could be considered “shed”, as it features 3 dramatic slopes. Another difficult challenge for Daniels was the trouble of an “in-filled” lot. An “in-filled” lot is where on either side of the lot there is a house, and the land itself is more narrow than wide. One can easily see why this would pose problems concerning the building and design of the house.
Second, the Daniels house was designed with the family in mind. Daniels had intentionally split the levels of the house as to differentiate between the kids and adults. The bottom area has more of an adult feel, with a formal dining area, fireplace, reading room, and decorative kitchen, whereas the upstairs is split into a section for children’s bedrooms and a loft type family room. There were also some features of the house that weren’t quite finished. For example, Daniels had started a tree-house outside that is still currently under construction. Also, with the original plans for the building Daniels envisioned an “at-home” movie theater. However, the design was never implemented due to lack of funds. Daniels said that normally this is the case with houses being designed, the original vision is sometimes shifted on account of budget. One of the features that struck us as most beautiful about the design of the house was the landscaping. Daniels designed a river flowing down the slope of the backyard that gave the house even more of a natural feel then that already created by the simplistic, environmental architecture of the home itself.
Another important part of his vision was his inspiration: James Cutler. After doing some research on Cutler’s architecture, it was clear to see why. Many of the homes and buildings created by the firm are simply wood and glass. This was an aspect of Daniels house that definitely stuck out so it was clear to see that he took much away from the creations of Cutler. Another aspect of Cutler’s architecture that was seen in Ed Daniels house was the use of all natural materials, something Ed was clear to emphasize when giving us a tour of his lovely home.
This Northwest Modern home should clearly be considered of great architectural importance to the city of Boise. It’s all natural materials and unique yet simplistic structure give the home a feeling of modern ideals combined with comfortable living. Ed Daniels and the team at Hummel did a fantastic job in designing and building this home and further reflecting their architectural styles and goals as a firm through this specific project.