An Amazing Glass House That Peeks Over the Forest

The Gluck tower house is a country home that does not look anything like a country home. This small vacation house is designed as a stairway to the treetops. It has no rustic stone fireplace, and there’s not an exposed wooden beam on the site.

Keeping the footprint to a minimum so as not to disturb the wooded site, each of the first three floors has only one small bedroom and bath, each a tiny private suite.

The top floor, which contains the living spaces, spreads out from the tower like the surrounding forest canopy, providing views of the lake and mountains in the distance. 

An outdoor roof terrace deck above extends the living space above the treetops, offering a stunning lookout to the long view.

The glass-enclosed stair also highlights the procession from forest floor to treetop aerie, while the dark green, back-painted glass exterior camouflages the house by reflecting the surrounding woods, de-materializing its form.

At dusk, mini lights dotting the cable rail of the stair mimic local fireflies sparkling in the woods as day turns to dark.

The Gluck’s Tower Residence

Gluck Tower House offers stunning panoramic views. Thomas Gluck, a principal at Manhattan-based architecture firm Gluck+, wanted to build a home that took full advantage of the view while limiting the impact on nature. He and his team of architects realized in order to do that, they’d have to totally reverse the way family-centric homes are traditionally laid out.