Stealth house

After years of city living—and our fair share of weekends navigating the Hamptons—my husband Michael and I found ourselves craving something quieter. Less performative, more elemental. We spent five years searching for the right spot, landing on 20 acres of rolling hills in Northeast Pennsylvania that felt, instantly, like ours. When local Realtor Bob Carmody first showed us the land, we immediately knew where the house would sit and which way it would face.

We began building in 2020, five months into the COVID pandemic; this turned out to be an unexpected blessing. Originally, Michael (a music supervisor) planned to be a weekender, but as the world slowed down and work went remote, the landscape took hold of him. What started as a getaway quickly became home.

I call the building Stealth House. It’s a quiet, minimal, matte-black metal structure—reminding me of the Stealth aircraft—inspired by the silhouette of local pole barns. From the outside, it’s grounded and mysterious, designed to recede into the NEPA tree line rather than shout over it. The house is site specific and sits in the middle of an open field on a plateau of sorts. Our front door entry was chosen for the view of silos from a distant farm northward, while at the same time looking south through the house glimpsing what we call “the money shot” view. Being a designer (interiors and product) who works in 3D provided me the opportunity to get the forms and feeling of the building just right before construction began. 

Inside, it’s open and light filled with floor-to-ceiling windows highlighting a majestic hill dotted with cows, and a view down our intimate valley. In the early evening when the sunlight lingers just above the treetops to the west, one feels like they are living in a Dutch Master’s painting.  These huge windows and open plan act as a “passive” solar situation, keeping the space warm in the winter. Everything is centered around the great room and kitchen designed for the way we live: welcoming, flowing and ready for entertaining. There is a peaceful study overlooking our fenced garden (we learned early on that the local deer are as hungry and persistent as they are beautiful) and a lower-level viewing room that honors Michael’s late partner, the abstract artist Rudolf de Crignis.

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The house is filled with moments from my life as a designer. Our bedroom headboard is a black-and-white photo enlargement of a young Aretha Franklin—an homage to my Detroit roots and the music that soundtracks our lives. Throughout, you’ll see subtle hints of the Memphis Style—bold patterns and pops of color that nod to my time in Italy meeting Memphis founder Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s.

Many of the furnishings are of my own design. The dining table and benches (in the viewing room) and minimalist grandfather clock were part of my own product line from the past.  I designed the two matching “deer” sideboards, in the great room; we had them built by John Roth, a local artisan and talented carpenter.  Brandon Swenson, a local craftsman, produced my design for the entry bench and a side table, both made from an extra glulam beam left over from the construction of the house. Nearly every light fixture throughout the house is my own design, each one specific to its space. 

And then there are the “strange” little things that give the house its personal character—like the slightly eerie collection of small vintage doll heads I rescued from a cardboard box at A Picker’s Find in Honesdale. They now sit on a shelf: quiet, unblinking houseguests who have seen it all.

It must be noted that none of this could have happened without builder Bob Rutledge, who took on this challenging job, and with his help and guidance, turned our ideas into reality. 

Two years ago, we stood in the middle of our field and got married, encircled by family, friends, and these hills. Stealth House may look minimal, but it holds a massive story. It is a design experiment, a retreat, and a love letter to this region all at once.

For more photos, see thie article online at riverreporter.com/our-country-home-page

For more on David Landis, see www.davidlandisdesign.com