Schoolhouse Visits A Saarinen-Inspired Corrugated Steel Hut in Oregon
For Marie Saldivar, owner and founder of Steel Hut, it all started in Joshua Tree, California. It’s where, ten years ago, she first came across a residential Quonset hut—most are used for agriculture—and, as she puts it: “My mind was fairly blown by the scale and volume of the spaces, and the visual contrast of lofted corrugated steel against the desert.” Since then, she’s launched her own company of design-forward residential structures made with 100 percent recycled steel shells. Naturally, a 1,200-sq-ft one even sits in her backyard in Sisters, Oregon. She shares a peek inside with us here.
Describe your personal style, and how it’s reflected in your Steel Hut guest house.
Non-stuffy, and mostly casual or function driven. With that said, I love objects and materials with aura. I’m drawn to singular antiques or things that show evidence of the hand or maker. I think this space has both of those qualities. It’s a very functional space with just enough atmosphere.
What design era inspired Steel Huts?
I’m a long-time super fan of midcentury modern era architects like Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, and Buckminster Fuller. I grew up in the ’90s wishing I was born in the ’60s and have always idolized the retro aesthetics from that era. I like to think there’s some of that vintage charm in this structure, some of that sweeping neo-futurist roof line Saarinen mastered, coupled with the ethos driven prefab efficiency of Frey and Fuller.
What is your favorite design detail of the Steel Hut?
I love the Carrara marble counters atop plywood cabinets in the kitchen. It’s this unexpected combination of materials that just work visually, and for me creates a fun conversation around precious and non-precious materials—and the hierarchy of design styles.
How has the design evolved since you built your first Steel Hut?
I had the opportunity to work this last year with the esteemed and award winning architectural firm Skylab Architecture out of Portland. In collaboration with Steel Master Buildings, we created three different and exciting building concepts, and we now offer full architectural drawings sets of them on our website. Each concept offers a wholly unique living experience all under a 100 percent recycled steel arched shell, and we’ve been able to really refine the form and create some stunning architectural spaces unlike anything ever seen before.
How do you add warmth to a steel and concrete space?
With this project I wanted to really push that material contrast by bringing in a warmth of materials finishes. Central to the structure are the exposed Douglas fir beams holding up the second floor, which in chorus with wood-clad doors and windows, cabinets and built-ins, stairwell banisters, there’s generous wood tones throughout this steel structure.
It’s been fun to mix more traditional materials with more contemporary ones. In the bathroom we have concrete floors paired with a porcelain pedestal sink, and handmade tile wainscoting. Schoolhouse’s modern take on a Victorian-era fixture (the Fran Sconce in Natural Brass) helps push that line between traditional and modern design languages in this space.
What is your best memory of living in a Steel Hut?
In 2015, my husband and I were just starting to date at the time, and we took on our first Steel Hut project on 5 acres of sand in the Mojave Desert, one parcel away from the 29 Palms military base and about 20 miles from the rural outpost of Joshua Tree, where my husband is from. With more grit than know-how, we built a very simple Quonset structure on a shoestring budget and ended up creating this beautiful 1,500-sq-ft space for about $50,000. My father-in-law poured us the foundation as a gift. Almost ten years and three Steel Huts later, we’re expecting our first child, and will host my in-laws in the guest hut on our property here in Sisters when the baby comes. It feels like this beautiful recursive moment in our lives, and I will always be nostalgic for those early days when we first fell in love with each other and this building system in the desert.
What Schoolhouse pieces feel the most at home there, and why?
From a fixtures perspective, I can’t really get over the Luna Cord Pendant 16” shade in Laurel Satin. It looks so incredible over the dining table, and it really centralizes and grounds that space with the perfect scale, and simple yet refined aesthetic. As far as furnishings go, the Owen Side Table in Dune paired with the Navy Teig Lamp, makes this perfect little visual moment next to my sofa that makes me really happy. There’s this very modernist nostalgia in those pieces that I think match the Steel Hut perfectly.
