The simplicity of the “swamp hut” belies its multifaceted origins. Conceived in 1990 by Keith Moskow, AIA, of Moskow Linn Architects, the initial version consisted of a prefabricated prairie cottage planned to be built in a wheat field in Kansas for his in-laws. Inspired by the natural surroundings as well as a boat trip taken with the same in-laws, the house, Moskow says, was “designed to float lightly upon the land, the structure — elevated on 4-by-4 inch posts — would be moored in the stubble of an empty wheat field.” But the project was never built.
In 1997, Robert Linn joined Moskow’s Boston firm as a business partner, and together the young designers reimagined the house. “Because it was conceived as a kit of parts, it could be assembled in a number of configurations to fit differing sites and programs,” says Linn. They developed a prototype for an Architecture for Humanity competition for transitional housing in Kosovo made of Red Cross supply crates; then they created a concept for ecoresort housing to be built on the coast of Peru. The architects, anxious after years to finally make the house a reality, put an ad in the local paper on Martha’s Vineyard to attract a buyer for a “think house.” Alas, with no identifiable client, Moskow and Linn decided to build the project for themselves and their families and friends on a tiny piece of land, the only legally buildable portion of a 10-acre parcel of wetlands in Newton, Massachusetts. It had been handed down to Moskow’s siblings by his grandparents, who had farmed the land in the 1940s.
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