Guest cottage with a dark metal hip roof and vertical wood siding set into a forest garden of boulders and grasses on Orcas Island

Deer Harbor Guest House

Island: Orcas Island
Year: 2018
Architect: PBW Architects

The first building finished at Deer Harbor: a low guest house set into the forest and native rock.

The story

At Deer Harbor, the guest buildings came first. We finished them in 2018, so the owners had a place to live while the main house was taken apart and rebuilt.

The guest house sits low on a forested slope, in weathering wood and dark panels under a metal roof, with native rock and new planting brought right up to its walls. Small as it is, it set the language the main house would follow.

Architect: PBW Architects
Photography: Andrew Pogue

Wood-clad cottage with a cupola-topped metal roof and stairs to a deck, nestled among firs and madronas

Bathroom with an oak vanity, black wall-mounted faucet, slim sconces and a textured stone backsplash

Covered deck with Adirondack chairs beside a madrona tree, opening through glass doors to the kitchen

Open kitchen and living room under a vaulted fir-beam ceiling with a skylight and woven pendant lights

View through open sliding glass doors into a cream sectional living area with a bedroom beyond

Planning to build in the islands?

We take on only a few homes at a time, so the best time to talk is early, even before you’ve chosen an architect or found your land.

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