A Modern Home With a Fully Detachable Home Office on Wheels That Moves on Railroad Tracks

Architectural Digest spoke with Tom Kundig, the owner of architecture firm Olson Kundig who designed the Maxon House in Carnation, Washington, a sleek modern home with a fully detachable home office/studio that runs on railroad tracks and is controlled via an adapted panel from an old Burlington Northern locomotive. The home’s owner, designer Lou Maxon was very involved in the mechanics and the theme of the office, which centered around the trains of the Northwest US.

Maxon House is a modern home revolutionizing the work commute. Work/life balance is given new meaning in Kundig’s design–a fully detachable home office on wheels journeys across a functional rail track into the forest creating an innovative work-from-home setup.

The Olson Kundig website describes this unique home in further detail.

The two-story steel tower is mounted on a 15-foot-gauge railroad track, allowing it to transition from a nested extension of the home’s living space to an independent, detached studio. Maxon Studio reflects the materiality and views of the original home, while translating the home’s horizontal proportions to a vertical arrangement. This contrast creates a dialogue with the existing building as well as a new experience of the heavily wooded site.