Stream and Mountain Harmony:A Dialogue between East and West

Stream and Mountain Harmony: A Dialogue between East and West is a three-story American-style villa located halfway up the hill in Huanglongxi Ancient Town, Chengdu. With a total area of 350 square meters, it sits on a mountainside, offering panoramic garden views and an artificial lake framed by rolling hills—an ideal landscape of water and stone.

The owner is a Canadian-Chinese expatriate. His dual cultural identity inspired the design concept: to blend Eastern tradition with Western living. Guided by the idea of "Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Living," we created a space where architecture, materials, symbols, and nature converse—fusing the spirit of American freedom with the timeless charm of this ancient Sichuan waterside town.

The layout harmonizes old-town textures with modern design. The double-height entrance hall features antique brickwork and abstract ink art, echoing traditional western Sichuan homes. A sunken courtyard on the basement level mimics local courtyard typologies, with bamboo screens casting shadows like wooden windows of the past.

Natural materials ground the interior: local sandstone, warm oak floors, and rammed-earth walls contrast subtly with brass shelves and reflective mirrors that capture mountain vistas. Cultural motifs appear quietly throughout—a kitchen counter patterned like a riverbed, a wall curving like a stream, a bookshelf embedded with embroidered scrolls.

Inspired by “water culture,” the garden features stepping stones, mossy rocks, and native plants, evoking a miniature Huanglongxi watershed. Architecture and landscape frame each other—the lake becomes a visual anchor, while floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor look directly toward the mountains, echoing the traditional Feng Shui idea of “seeing the mountains upon opening the door.”

Combining local craftsmanship with smart systems—climate control, water recycling, hidden audio playing streams, cicadas, and guqin music—the space offers an immersive return to roots. This is not just a Western-style home in China—it is a reimagining of place and memory, rooted in the culture and land of Huanglongxi. East meets West, tradition meets modernity, and the local resonates with the global—in quiet harmony by stream and mountain.