A HOME on a wooded lot comes with plenty of benefits, from built-in forest bathing to an exquisite view of trees alive with squirrels, birds, and other cute forest dwellers. It feels like one’s own personal woodland hideaway.
This was Mark and Julie Beebe’s dream when they discovered one of the last undeveloped wooded lots on a curve of Courageous Drive in the Feather Cove community in Geist. While the neighborhood was already 50 years old, the site was untouched by builders. “We bought the lot in 2020, and we were surprised to see it left over, as people thought it was unbuildable due to its extreme terrain, like the large slope, dense woods, and the general lack of room for a grass yard. But we liked that about the lot—there would be no need to maintain a lawn,” says Mark.
Instead, the pair could craft their dream forever home, a modern treehouse of sorts, perched on the sprawling tree line. “But we could still be a part of a neighborhood in Indianapolis. It was like having the best of both worlds. We could stay in the city, but the lot felt like we had suddenly landed in a piece of Brown County on the edge of a big city.”
Another factor in their decision was their new role as empty nesters. They had children about to graduate from high school and set off for college. So, the couple was ready to spread their wings and glide toward a slower-paced lifestyle that suited their interest in nature. “The prior neighborhood we lived in was located downtown, and there was a really strong sense of neighborhood cohesion,” says Mark. “We loved it there for raising kids because there was an ‘everyone has a front porch facing the sidewalk’ type of feel with the homes. And our kids could walk to school every day. But now that the kids are older, we wanted to move away from being in the center of everything,” Mark explains. “We didn’t want to leave the city, exactly, but at the same time, we were pining for somewhere like Brown County full of rolling hills and beautiful slopes.”
As an architect, Mark has designed dozens of homes in the Indianapolis area. This time, he was tasked with designing a home for himself and Julie, merging their individual aesthetics. Mark gravitates to midcentury modern style, known for its clean, simple lines, its emphasis on wood and glass, and its bold shapes. Meanwhile, Julie prefers more of a farmhouse style, characterized by neutral shades, homespun materials, rustic touches, and comfortable furnishings.
The house is a blend of the two styles. The main living space’s exposed beams show off Julie’s preferred aesthetic. “The wood tones are warmer than what I would have chosen,” says Mark. The wood is balanced by large-format, pale aqua glass tile in the kitchen, an element Mark prefers. An Eames-style chair is another bridge between their preferences. Its brown tones complement the warm wood shades running throughout the home.
“We aren’t planning on moving again, so we decided to lean into what we wanted, especially since the other neighborhood we used to live in had so many restrictions on what you could add or build around your home,” says Mark. “Now we have the freedom to do whatever we want.”
Much of the new home’s design aligns with the pair’s new empty nester lifestyle. Mark planned the house to have a simple expanded L shape, with the primary living spaces—the kitchen, great room, and dining room—on one side, and the garage on the other. The primary suite is located above the garage, and the other bedrooms and family room are below the rest of the main living spaces. “We wanted our suite far away from the other rooms for privacy’s sake.”
The pair also thought ahead to how they could age in place. Though the floor plan is similar to a split-level with the stair located at the elbow of the L, the extreme slope of the lot worked to their favor. “We were able to design the house to continue with the slope down the hill, so the house flows in a way that reduces the number of stairs and steps.”
The feeling that the home’s footprint flows with the landscape interestingly fits with Mark’s pastime as an avid sailor. It could be argued that he designed the home to lay across a “sea” of woods, with the high points mimicking the crow’s nest of a ship. “My favorite spot in the house is where the corner glass wraps around the point that the leather Eames-style chair sits in,” says Mark. “Sitting in the chair feels like you are in the treetops overlooking everything.”
The L shape of the home itself is 15 degrees wider than a standard 90-degree angle, recalling the angles on a ship. “It’s my subtle reference to sailing, but in a purposeful way as well, for these angles happen to open the house up to better views from the pool deck,” he says. “Plus, the angle helps situate the garage doors closer to the drive and makes the house face away from the street to maximize separation and privacy for the pool deck and other spaces.”
These sailboat references fit with the nautical-themed street name in the address. “While most of the neighboring street names have obvious sailing references—like Bowline, Halyard, and Catamaran—our street’s name, Courageous, hearkens to a 12-meter racing yacht that won the 1974 America’s Cup and then went on to win again in 1977,” he says.
The rooms of the home that overlook Courageous Drive have smaller, carefully located windows, like portholes peering out from a ship. “There are many things I love about sailing,” Mark says, “including the pull of the wind. The architectural design for our home has large expansive views to the exterior, and a 15-degree angle and triangles that show up in the plan and elevation, referencing the angles of a jib and mainsail.”
On the other side of the house, the main living spaces including the kitchen and living room are lined with expansive operable glass windows overlooking the river and woodland. Mark and Julie wanted to be able to open these windows like giant sails to let in fresh breezes and natural light. These design choices fit the midcentury modern aesthetic, Mark explains, as architects during that era liked to play with natural light and the transition between the interior and the great outdoors.
Because of the home’s shape, the sloping site required some clearing. Repurposing as much of the wood as he could, Mark had the trees—which included hickory, white oak, cherry, and poplar—milled into trim boards to be used for stair treads, countertops, and windowsills.
One of the most prominent uses of this harvested wood is a display shelf near the front door, where a replica of the actual Courageous yacht is mounted, further cementing the couple’s blend of design styles and interests. “I wanted the home to feel anchored within time and space,” says Mark.
