STORIES | We Secretly Designed a “Cosmic Experience”

Jan 4, 2026 | FALL 2025, STORIES

By aligning the home with the land, the sun, and the moon, we framed a rare harvest moon to rise like a quiet spotlight.

One year later, we received this email.

How did we do it?

A site plan illustrating how the home is oriented to the sun and the moon, shaping light, views, and experience throughout the day and night.
View into the main living space from the dining table.
Front yard view showing the window from the exterior.

When we design a project we are very attuned to the nuances of the site and the landscape. We are always thinking about the views and the experiences that we can strategically design which will bring magic to space. The codes allow us a lot of opportunities to plan large glass walls that face north and east where the solar heat gain through the glass is low. We know the sun rises every morning from the east. This is always dramatic, but we also knew that a full harvest moon rising would be an event…a true experience where we could frame and focus the view of the moon in the window. Like looking through a giant telescope, we envisioned the moon reflecting off the glass dining room table, softly glowing into the main spaces of the home- spotlighting the interiors magically. We calculated the timeline for the moonrise and the angles of the light and then left the effect to be discovered by our clients…

A diagram showing how the east-facing window precisely aligns sunrise and moonrise to cast a focused beam of light across the dining room.