This project is a retreat for a couple who lost their home to wildfires.  The key driver to the project was breaking up the program into different volumes on site, knit together by the landscape and an exterior canopy.

Using a modest material palette and a design aesthetic that took cues from Japanese Architecture and placemaking – we created a serene residence that sits gently within the landscape.

This creates an environment where the site itself is ‘home’ – not just the enclosure.

This project was a residence for a couple who were seeking to build a residence in the saddle of a ridge line that:

– opened up to the distant views

– created an indoor outdoor environment for entertaining

– provided areas of refuge from the more public areas of the home

We did this by clearly articulating a main living area under ‘butterfly’ roof, enclosed in steel and glass, while all support and private spaces were clad in simple monolithic stucco volumes.

This project was a small Accessory Dwelling Unit for additional home space on a wonderful site in Healdsburg. The client wished to build the unit so that their children (and grandchild) would have a place to stay on weekend visits.

The project brief was to design a contemporary home that captured the view, and made the most of the indoor/outdoor living opportunities of the area.

Using a simple pallet of materials: Wood, Steel, Glass and Concrete, we developed a language of a simple ‘bar’ with the bedrooms and services (bathrooms and kitchen plumbing) wrapped in grey corrugated metal, and a shed roofed ‘Living’ portion of the home that had less clearly defined edges that helped feather the building into the landscape.  (Both from inside and outside.)

This project was for a young couple relocating back to Santa Rosa from New York.  They sought to update a mid-century ranch home they purchased in the hills of Santa Rosa – with a distinct vision.

The project brief could be boiled down to a single aesthetic directive: Scandinavia meets Japan.

The response was to eliminate any unnecessary barriers to the main living area, as well as creating a more layered approach to indoor/outdoor living through a new expansive window wall and outdoor covered area.

The material palette was kept simple and serene, with a simple pop of tile in the master bath and wardrobe.

This project is a retreat for a large extended family.  The project was conceived as a compound of small living areas that blur the edges between indoor and outdoor space.

Using the local agrarian Architecture as inspiration, this design sought to create a clean, contemporary modern farmhouse aesthetic – simplifying the Architecture to the fundamental expression of shelter.

Some portions enclosed, others open – allowing the user to define their own relationship to the landscape.

This project was a weekend retreat for a couple from the City.   The site was heavily encumbered by building restrictions due to it’s proximity to the creek and topography.

The design intent was to keep the special quality of the site by designing a small simple structure that opened up to the creek.

A simple concept of a ‘service bar’ housing all the ‘guts’ of the house, and a ‘living bar’ to house the activity was executed in plan and volume.  An additional outdoor covered area with hidden retractable screens extends the ‘living’ bar and creates the indoor/outdoor living the client sought – to best take advantage of being perched on the edge of a creek.

The spacial relationships were expressed with the use of different cladding materials:

Services – Corrugated Metal

Living – Fiber Cement Panel with expressed fasteners

Outdoor Living Canopy – Cedar Wrapped Structure