London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

A Spruce-Clad Family Cabin in Norway Hugs Its Cinematic Landscape

A Spruce-Clad Family Cabin in Norway Hugs Its Cinematic Landscape

This 753-square-foot cabin by architect Jon Danielsen Aarhus is the getaway of our dreams.

The glossy black cabin that architect Jon Danielsen Aarhus designed for a mother and her two daughters in Son, Norway, is a multilevel retreat that mimics the steep rock hillside on which it’s perched. The architect saw the landscape as an opportunity, not as a deterrent. "The building is situated on naturally occurring ledges in the steep terrain," Aarhus says. "The eastern facade is low and hidden, but the rear facade is more exposed and open to the sea, which is only about a five-minute walk [away]."



The 750-square-foot cabin that architect Jon Danielsen Aarhus designed in Son, Norway, is situated on a sloping hillside of solid rock that overlooks the sea.

There are neighbors on all sides, but the 750-square-foot cabin is situated so that Aarhus’s clients don’t really see them. Instead, the family sees towering pines and epic views of the sea and Jeløya, a large island in the Oslofjord, an inlet in the southeast of Norway.

"It was important not to change the landscape and level the bedrock with dynamite," Aarhus says. "The natural terrain here is beautiful, and it would be a shame to blow it all away."



The eastern facade is tucked against the bedrock, allowing for privacy from neighboring homes.

The client, a technical drawer who the architect worked with previously, requested a modest design that ties to the surrounding nature. "The plot has been in the family for generations," Aarhus says. "It’s about an hour away from bustling Oslo, where the mother and daughters live full-time."

The family also requested various spaces that would make the home, dubbed the Cabin Son, feel larger than its 750 square feet. Aarhus responded by creating different interior levels that respond directly to the stepped quality of the terrain.



The cabin interior-including the open-plan kitchen, dining, and living areas-features a spruce-covered ceiling and walls that provide a warm aesthetic in contrast to concrete-like tile floors.

Aarhus arranged three bedrooms and a bathroom on the lowest level, where a loft or mezzanine provides a quiet space to sleep, read, or relax. The large main living area and kitchen are located on the third level, with a smaller secondary living room situated a few steps down from this area on the second level.



A secondary living area is arranged a few steps down on the second level. Expansive windows on both levels tie the cabin interior to the surrounding landscape.



Inspired by the rocky hillside where the cabin is situated, Aarhus designed a rock climbing wall in the hallway that accesses the bedrooms on the cabin’s lowest level.



Spruce walls in the cabin’s bedrooms reference the surrounding natural scenery.

"The size of the different rock ledges where the building is placed decided which rooms went where," says Aarhus. Doors open to the landscape on each of the cabin’s three levels, and a sheltered area between the new and existing structures provides additional outdoor living spaces, in addition to a southwest-facing terrace.



A long and narrow bridge connects an existing cabin on the site with the new structure and provides a lookout area where the family can observe the sea.

Aarhus drew inspiration for the design from an existing tiny cabin on the site, studying its orientation, relation to the landscape, color, and roof angle. He also noted a bridge on the western facade that acts as a narrow lookout area on the exterior. Aarhus extended the bridge so that it runs along the western facade of the new cabin, connecting the two structures and allowing passage between them. "The existing cabin now functions as an annex to the new building," Aarhus says. "They relate to each other visually and spatially."



Tall pine trees and thick brush near the cabin are a counterpoint to the structure’s glossy black exterior.

Aarhus clad the cabin with a saltbox-style roof and vertical spruce boards finished with a high-shine black stain. "We chose spruce because it’s inexpensive," Aarhus says. "It’s coated with Beis, which soaks deeper into the wood, kind of like an oil treatment."

The siding, called "barn cladding," or låvekledning in Norwegian, features spacing between the boards. "Historically, this let air flow through a barn and dry stored hay," Aarhus says. For the cabin, it allowed the architect to tuck air vents behind the cladding, creating a clean aesthetic for the exterior.



The bedrock that the cabin pushes up against creates a feeling of being nestled. A passageway with glass doors at either end floods the interior with sunlight and glimpses of the natural surround.

"Although the cabin is quite small in size, there are quite a lot of different spaces where the family can spend time with a degree of separation from one another," Aarhus says. "They can be in different areas but still have contact, openness, and connection to the landscape."



The cabin’s structure steps down along the rock hillside, tracing its slope.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×