McLeod Bovell is a collaborative design partnership specializing in complete residential design. Since 2008, our firm has grown to include a group of 10 designers with diverse backgrounds. Our work embraces embedded social, spatial and environmental opportunities as generators for invention. Over the last decade, we have gained experience designing houses on steep and irregularly-shaped land. While these areas are often afforded significant views, their immediate natural features may not always be remarkable: neither fully cultivated nor untouched wilderness. Under these conditions, the priority of the view can dominate the discussion. Our work makes efforts to balance the primacy of this view with opportunities afforded by extreme topography that allows for varied and particular programmatic sequences. Creating unusual relationships at different scales of living connects the houses to their surroundings. We work to understand the substantive elements of our client's nature and desires. Sometimes this is articulated, but often what is not said is most important. Through this continuous dialog we establish a framework for design decision-making. Ideas evolve from this investigation rather than out of pre-conceived, prescriptive solutions. Spatial experiences and idiosyncrasies are prioritized. Through this process we hope to create work that conveys feeling, specific character, and is receptive to influences beyond our region.