Based in New York City, Chan-li Lin has worked for Rafael Viñoly Architects for 22 years, focusing on large projects. About three years ago he and his wife, Denise Ferris, an architect and project manager, decided to design on a smaller scale–a weekend house.

A teardown on a small hill 50 miles north of the city in Waccabuc, New York, hit the mark. When Lin saw the view into the woods from the roof of the existing house, he decided that living spaces should be at that level, where abundant trees would provide privacy. The couple razed the old structure but saved the foundation for the new 2,170-square-foot house. The second floor, a rectangular volume, cantilevers dramatically 20 feet from each end of the house. These cantilevers, supported by two steel trusses integrated within a two-by-six wood frame, extend from a pedestal-like base to shelter a carport at the east and a porch at the west. “I was keen on developing something whose characteristics were determined by a structure,” says Lin.