The house’s simple forms echo elements of suburban Denver. Photo © César Béjar, click to enlarge.

Living spaces on the ground level are encircled by the cylindrical pedestal. Photo © César Béjar

“We’re interested in subversion, but from a kind of grounded place,” says coprincipal Neyran Turan, who founded Nemestudio, a 2024 Design Vanguard, with her husband, Mete Sönmez, a decade ago. The firm’s work has largely been research-focused, with forays into exhibition design. CS2 House, which Turan and Sönmez designed for themselves, represents a shift toward built projects. (Another residence, Hempo Longhouse, explores the use of hempcrete, an eco-friendly, plant-based building material, and will soon break ground in Southern California.)

When CS2 House was being built, a neighbor who lives across the street introduced himself to the architects. “What’s interesting about this house is that it’s so different but at the same time very familiar,” he said, as Turan recounts. “That’s why I like it.”

That comment gave the architects goosebumps. “That was our goal—not only in this house but in our approach to architecture in general,” she adds.

The concept for the house goes back to 2019, when Turan and Sönmez designed CS House, a similar single-family dwelling. (The C stands for circle, S for square.) Originally, the couple hoped to build the house in the Bay Area, where Turan teaches, but land and construction costs proved prohibitive. Instead, they looked to Denver, where, for $225,000, they were able to buy an empty lot—a blank slate for their self-financed experiment. (The original 1948 house on the property had burned down.)

Working on a tight budget, the architects and their local contractor, Joe Dooling, used mostly low-cost materials such as concrete block for the first floor’s curved walls and IKEA kitchen cabinetry. Inside, the aesthetic is minimalist, with unpainted concrete floors and bare white walls, accented in places with pale green and bright yellow. The circular ground level is open and flexible, with a kitchen, a bathroom, and a double-height living area. A central, partially caged-in stairwell leads to the upper floor, which accommodates two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. Thanks to that oversize shed roof, the angled upstairs ceiling extends to 15 feet at its peak. Large, square-shaped windows throughout the house allow for plenty of daylight. A simple basement contains a sitting room, a guest bedroom, a bathroom, and storage closets.

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Pops of color brighten the interiors (1 & 2). The sloped upper level crests at 15 feet and features a large, square window (3). Photos © César Béjar

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The intentional misalignment between the rectangular and circular footprints creates several shaded outdoor patio areas, as well as a small balcony off one of the upstairs bedrooms. “These design features allow for multiple readings of the house from different viewpoints,” Turan says.

Although Turan and Sönmez have spent several weeks living in CS2 House, their short-term plan is to rent it out and then, at some point in the future, perhaps sell it. They don’t see themselves as developers. Yet, says Turan, it was a valuable experience—a chance “to get our hands dirty” while pursuing high-level architectural and design objectives under real-world budgetary constraints.

Another aim, she says, smiling, “was to build it, document it, and introduce it to the world without going bankrupt.”

Having accomplished that, Turan and Sönmez see CS2 House as a model for low-cost, design-focused residences, single-family or otherwise. “Not that we want to repeat it exactly,” Turan says, “but I do think the sensibility can be replicated in future projects.”

Click drawings to enlarge