2021 Best of Design: New Home
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ADAPTED FROM THE PAGES OF
April 2021
2021 Best of Design: New Home
Using nature as the guide, architect Mike Gwin designed a sustainable family
home in Cheswick that’s in harmony with its wooded environment.
By April Johnson
When Renee Gwin discovered a Mike had to first understand the have both health and environmental
heavily wooded, 10-acre property in landscape they’d just purchased — benefits — wowed the judges and
Cheswick, pocked with deep valleys the way the prevailing breeze moved took Best New Home honors in this
and deemed practically unbuildable, through the valleys, the amount of year’s Best of Design competition.
she knew she’d found the perfect noise trickling in from the road, the “I love how they kept the finishes,
location for her family’s new home. depth and breadth of each valley. So colors, textures, and details minimal
After all, her husband, Rothschild he and Renee spent long weekends so as not to take away from the
Doyno Collaborative Principal hiking and camping the property outside views,” says Judge Carissa
Mike Gwin, loves a good design with their three sons. Smith of Cleveland-based AoDK
challenge. They finally chose a spot in the Architecture. “It truly feels like a
The couple, longtime city dwellers center of their 10 acres, tucked treehouse.”
who had previously renovated a against a hillside in the midst of a The home also won an AIA
Victorian-era house in Lawrenceville, largely undisturbed tree canopy, Pittsburgh Design Award Certificate
wanted their new home to be a to construct their three-story, of Merit last year.
21st-century sanctuary, existing in 2,800-square-foot home. “It’s beautiful in both form and
harmony with its environment and The biophilic design — a concept function, and it serves as an
filled with modern amenities. In that increases the occupants’ exemplary example of designing
order to get the balance just right, connection to nature and is said to homes that can reduce our impact
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ADAPTED FROM THE PAGES OF
April 2021
on the environment,” adds Judge were eager to adopt the practices home on the lowest level, sweep
Crystal DeCastro Knapik of Vocon. in their own home. To minimize up through the house in a chimney
Much of the praise heaped upon tree removal, they purposefully effect, and exit via the top-floor
the home has been for its passive positioned the structure within the windows.
and sustainable design solutions, trees, so naked branches allow “That,” Mike says, “is just a good
including natural ventilation, shading sunlight to warm the home in the old design principle.”
and rainwater collection. Mike has winter while leaves provide shade The system for collecting and
long used sustainable concepts in in the summer. The breezes that processing 100 percent of the
his work with clients and the Gwins regularly skim the valley enter the rainwater that falls on the home is a
seamlessly integrated sustainability
feature. Greenscape roofing absorbs
stormwater, a gravity-fed harvesting
tank collects water for tending to their
vegetable and pollinator gardens,
and processing tanks with a drip
irrigation system allow wastewater
to return to the ground.
Though the wooded landscape
and use of sustainable design have
led many to believe the Gwins live in
the middle of nowhere, the property is
actually adjacent to a neighborhood
and just off a main artery in Cheswick.
Clever positioning of the house on
the property and the windows on the
house maintain that away-from-it-all
aura.
The side of the home that faces
the road is covered in custom
aluminum siding complemented with
warm wood panels. A narrow bank
of windows looks in on the home’s
open staircase, flooding it with light.
The back and opposite sides of the
home are nearly full glass, offering
unobstructed views of the flora and
fauna that come and go with the
seasons.
“Every space has a different
feeling,” Renee says. “No matter
how you’re feeling, there’s a space
where you can go.”
Renee tends to retreat to the third-
floor master bedroom, particularly on
stormy nights when she can enjoy
the calming effect of rain falling on
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ADAPTED FROM THE PAGES OF
April 2021
the metal roof. Plus, Mike says of the home very simple and let construction by allowing his son to
with a hint of glee, when you peer the windows be the artwork,” Mike tag along when he went to work.
out from the top-floor windows or says. “I grew up working on job sites,”
lounge on one of the balconies, “It’s Well, save a few standout Mike says. “He really shaped
kind of like living in a big treehouse.” pieces. One is a starburst-shaped, my appreciation for building and
Despite the childhood nostalgia custom coffee table designed and construction and approach to
created at the top of the house, built by friend Jason Boone of making architecture.”
Mike prefers the cozy feeling of Pittsburgh’s Urban Tree. Another is Together, father and son poured
being tucked against the land on an open-tread staircase, made from the home’s polished, concrete
the first floor. And their boys — now reclaimed, western Pennsylvania floors, laid the stonework outside,
17, 15 and 12 years old — spend barnwood, that twists from the installed the wood panels and all
a lot of time in the hammock chair, bottom floor to the top. And then, the cabinetry and constructed the
which swings on a small balcony there’s a sweet, personal touch greenscape roofing, among other
built especially for the family- — a trio of charcoal drawings that projects. Both Mike and Renee are
favorite piece of furniture. Mike made of the couple’s sons reminded of those moments as they
Eventually, though, everyone when they were cherub-cheeked move through their home.
tends to end up in the open- toddlers. It’s fitting, they say, because the
concept main level of the home, In addition to providing artwork, best parts of the house aren’t the
which features a kitchen stocked Mike served as the architect, physical spaces. The best parts
with custom cabinetry and topped general contractor and builder on are the satisfaction, work and the
with leathered granite. The the project. That not only made tranquility that comes from living
adjacent dining and living areas for seamless communication in harmony with nature. With each
have an expanse of windows and a with construction manager Adam day, each rise and set of the sun,
collection of large balconies. Stickle of Stix and Stones, but also each change in season, they learn
The one thing it does not have is allowed him to work closely with his something new.
a lot of wall space. father, Alan Gwin, a builder who, “Our house has taught us a lot,”
“We purposefully kept the inside years ago, sparked Mike’s love for Mike says.
VENDORS
Architectural Design: Michael Gwin, Rothschild
Doyno Collaborative.
General Contractor: Gwin Construction.
Construction Manager: Adam Stickle, Stix and
Stones.
Structural Engineer: Capstone Engineering.
Interior Design: Michael and Renee Gwin.
Windows and Doors: Marvin Windows, Allegheny
Millwork.
Window Install: Santico Inc, Don Santillo.
Exterior Siding and Roofing: Imetco.
Siding Fabrication and Install: Bryn Enterprises.
Exterior Wood Panels: Prodema, Barbara J. Sales.
Exterior Stone: Realstone, Architectural Clay
Products.
Exterior Railings: Wolfe Metal Fab.
Interior Railings: Temper+Grit / Wheaton Steel.
Mechanical: Jeff Chips. Electric: Lagamba Electric.
Plumbing: Wise Plumbing.
Plumbing Fixtures: Penstan.
Lighting: Cardello.
Cabinetry: Team Laminates Company.
Reclaimed Barn Beam Stairs: Barry Lang.
Countertops: Armina Stone.
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