Longfellow Drive

Try and try again.  The substantial east-facing hillside setting with mature landscape was ripe for a stunning new design, but the initial concepts for a new home were frustratingly inadequate.  When the design team began to focus on the gardens and the strength of the existing outdoor spaces, the resulting sliver of area in the middle of the property proved to be the nucleus for the ultimate indoor/outdoor family lifestyle and the vision was clear. 

The design for this California Ranch style estate centers on a "landscape-first" approach, leveraging four distinct garden settings and leaving a linear middle ground for the three level home at the center of the property. The hillside allows the terraced home to integrate with the land on three distinct levels, with the main level serving all of the family living spaces.  The second floor master suite creates a 'bridge' over the living area and, with retractable glass walls on either side, the living space is a flexible, transparent mediator of the upper and lower garden spaces.

The modern rustic sensibility encourages flow and provides multiple transitional spaces between indoor and outdoor.  Materials were chosen to promote the the natural setting and timeless character and include colored board-formed concrete walls, board and batten painted wood siding, standing-seam zinc roofing, and indigenous trees and landscaping.