Even without knowing the exact address, the Shaw residence, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects, would be easy to spot. Located at the crest of a hill in an upscale Fayetteville, Arkansas, neighborhood—a 20-year-old development lined with manicured lawns and sprawling European-manor-style McMansions—its low, rectangular form stands out among its traditional neighbors, appearing to float above the ground plane behind a golden swath of prairie grasses.

Firm principal Marlon Blackwell, recipient of the 2020 AIA Gold Medal, has a penchant for the unexpected, as exemplified by such diverse projects as the Thaden School, a dynamic ground-up middle and high school campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the spare St. Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church, housed in a refined metal building in nearby Springdale. For this project, the architect reimagines a courtyard-style house on a suburban hillside in the Ozarks.