st. matthews parish house...

location: St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough North Carolina
completion date: 1999
project team:
Frank Harmon
Ellen Cassilly
David Swanson (landscape architect)

problem statement

Built in 1826, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church sits atop a hill overlooking the small, historic town of Hillsborough, NC.  In 1995, the Vestry asked our firm to design a parish house for worship, education, and administering other missions of the church.  Due to the sanctuary’s historic nature, the new parish had to be designed to respect the original architecture and an historic cemetery also on the property, yet look forward to a third century for the church.

our design response

We placed the parish house on the edge of the churchyard, close enough to the sanctuary to serve as a second narthex yet far enough away to create a courtyard between the buildings for church functions.  To complement the sanctuary, we used board-and-batten siding to create a refined “carpenter’s gothic” exterior similar to what a carpenter might have used in 1826 when the original church was built.  Board and batten also made an efficient, 21st Century rain screen for this energy efficient structure.  A broad, standing-seam metal roof shelters classrooms, choir rehearsal room and robing area, the minister’s study, and reception rooms.  Nestled into the hillside, the parish house will be a good companion for the old church for the next 150 years.