...or, of course, a window surrounded by custom bookcases, but we prefer to see it the other way. This design really evokes a moment in time for us — when we've just finished a book and are looking for a new one, and casually glance (in our case, to the side) out of the window. But the house this shelf/window is part of is even more unique...
It's all one house, designed to look like many, a whole compound, even. Whoa? The designer is Hugh Newell Jacobson, and the rest of the interior is also beautiful, light and open.
10 No-Fail Decor Tricks & Tips for Small Spaces
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
This is pretty great but it would have been cooler if they could have aligned the grid of the window panes with that of the surrounding bookcases.
Nearly all Hugh Newell Jacobsen houses are like this.
His reportoire consists almost exclusively of perfectly symmetric clustered pavillions making a whole, 12:12 roof pitch, stark-white exteriors and interiors, central fireplace masses facing a central-rear living room with a wall of windows at the back, gridded built-in bookcases, an absence of eaves & interior trim with clapboard siding, relatively small 9-paned or 6-over-9 windows with no shutters and minimal exterior trim...
"...it would have been cooler if they could have aligned the grid of the window panes with that of the surrounding bookcases."
They are aligned when viewed from dead-on.
The photo was taken at an angle to the window.
Very cool.
The first pic is cool, but it seems like so much useless space with all the hallways. In general, I think hallways are useless space. And those front rooms would not get much light which makes reading difficult. I prefer to read by natural light which seems easier on my eyes.
Nice! I really like that room. The facade seems like a movie set for a serial killer flick! Too austere and "pure" by half!
The hallways are probably light wells as well as passages (all those second story windows) and probably have a sort of ceremonial effect within the house. They permit the unusual room arrangement, too. I don't think they are "wasted".
Yeah, this is great. Makes me wish I had a similar little window just to try it myself. God knows I have enough books.
Thought that had to be his. Those bookcases are one of his hallmarks.
The bookcase is beautiful. But the house looks like a Robert Venturi mess.
I totally love the design of the house, but not sure about drowning out the light of a window with books.
Those windows are bit small...