Built for the architect’s father, this house stands at the foot of the Quingling Mountains in Lantian some 1,500 kilometres from Beijing. The dwelling consists of an introverted cubic structure in which traditional and modern building elements are combined. One aim of the design was to use local materials and forms of construction as far as possible. The load-bearing structure consists of reinforced concrete columns and beams laid out to grid dimensions of 4.80 and 1.40 m. The facade panels between these members are filled externally with rounded stones, a material that is normally used for the walls around fields and other plots of land. Local villagers and the client himself gathered the stones one by one from the bed of a nearby river and sorted them according to colour, size and form. Each of the walls was given its own special texture and shade of colour, which can, in turn, vary according to weather and light conditions. The stones are held in position by a concrete backing, and the bays are attached to the load-bearing columns by means of steel anchor pieces. The internal space, articulated by the exposed concrete columns, has a pared-down appearance without seeming cool or unfriendly.