To drive to Point Roberts, Washington, you have to cross the United States'Canada border twice, making a U-turn above the 49th parallel: its peninsula juts into the water south of Vancouver, separated from the rest of the United States by the Strait of Georgia.

On the southeastern tip of the exclave, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ)'known for its tectonic residences whose clarity of form and materials often have ample budgets'has designed what could be thought of as a contemporary Case Study house, built for $210 per square foot. The client was the firm's longtime collaborator, architectural photographer Nic Lehoux, who shares the residence with his partner and their toddler daughter. The rectangular, charcoal-colored two-story wood house is sited in an existing clearing in a dense old-growth forest. A combination of a balloon frame structure and platform structure made of off-the-shelf dimensional lumber, it is defined by two volumes that appear 'zipped' together. Internally, they are divided by a hallway running east'west. BCJ principal Robert Miller also designed a ramp that will extend this datum line outside and guide visitors from the road to the house. The walkway and a deck are under construction.