The New Haven Test is a proposal for the annual Jim Vlock Building Project. The delivered prompt for the project is flexible and asks the designs to be roughly one thousand square feet, containing three bedrooms and one and half bathrooms. Our site is located on the corner of Winthrop Ave and Scranton St. just west of the Yale School of Architecture. When dealing with a project with such a minimal size, but a large array of required programs my concern is avoiding the feeling of density and program packing. I propose that for our particular site, and other possible sites in New Haven the best way to open the house up and avoid the feeling of density is to begin to blur the boundaries of interior and exterior space. Upon entry the occupant is presented with a view that begins to layer a series of interior and exterior spaces. This moment of layering is a spatial effect which allows the house to feel much larger than it truly is, but also creates special moments of transparency allowing unexpected visual connections too many different areas of the house. The dining room breaks the form of the bar, and is pushed out into the courtyard area, it also lays a foot below the rest of the house. This became a hierarchical moment of dining in the garden, and way to separate the family and guests from the house to enjoy a meal.