Buoy Bay A-Frame is a project designed by Heliotrope Architects. Boat trips to the San Juan Islands were the highlight of Heliotrope principal Joe Herrin’s summers as a child. Through these trips he developed a love of boating and a deep connection to the San Juans – one that eventually led he and his wife Belinda to purchase a modest beach cabin on Orcas Island, months after the birth of their first daughter. The site is part of a SE facing 36-acre waterfront parcel held in common with eight other families. It is situated immediately adjacent to a seasonal stream and wetland to the south, with an alder and fir forest behind (to the west) and a neighbor (who they found out later is a distant relative) to the north. Photography by Sean Airhart.
