This weekend retreat on the Llano River reminds us where buildings began—as shelter from the elements, with a low impact on the site, and built from mostly local materials. A large breezeway porch serves as the main outdoor living space, linking the single-story, stone-walled, public wing with the two-story, metal-clad, sleeping wing. Above it all hovers a single shed roof that follows the hilly terrain, sheltering the Z-shaped plan and creating a coherent whole.