Family Retreat

Initially, local governing agencies were intent on leaving the land as it was—overgrown and uninhabited. Yet working with ten consultants over three and a half years, we satisfied all requirements to place on it a modernist 2,500 sq. ft., two-bedroom family home for weekends and holidays.

This structure sits lightly on the land, respecting the ecologically fragile nature of the site and precisely attuned to its forces.

A formal object in a natural context—like Wallace Stevens’ jar on a hill—the house holds its own in this tall, cavernous place, neither dominating nor being dwarfed by it.

The house is composed of four volumes made of different interwoven, interconnected materials that create visually and spatially complex exterior and interior spaces.

The main volume, clad in standing seam copper, runs parallel to the canyon. Its thin, butterfly roof sits delicately above a band of extruded glass, connecting to the roof structure with thin rods, invisible on the exterior.

These rods, which telescope down into the walls, are used to lift the structure three feet off the ground, reducing its impact on the land.

At both ends of the house, two-story clear windows frame views of the redwoods and the canyon ridge, bringing vistas of sky within, sunny by day and starry by night.

A one-story structure on the front of the house comprises all its service functions; the custom steel-and-glass volume in back opens to views of the creek.

The plan explores the tensions inherent in family getaways: open areas for communal living; private spaces for solitary retreats; and outdoor expanses for relaxation.

A combination of transparent glass and extruded channel glass reflects and dapples the light throughout, creating a dynamic play of brightness and shadow.