This property is located 30 to 45 minutes from the nearest store, or the nearest gas station,
or the nearest town, so it's relatively remote for this part of California and there are no
utilities servicing this property like you might have in a denser community, there's no power,
utilities, there's no sewer system there's no Municipal water supply, it's such a beautiful,
pristine environment, that was really the most characteristic part of the project is that
there's nothing here, and we wanted to make sure that we didn't mess that up. We're at
the point at which the California coastline turns from a North-South
orientation to an East-West orientation and that's created a set of very unique
geographic conditions due to being at an unusually high altitude right near the ocean.
This project is located on a very narrow ridge line, approximately 15 to 20 degree
downward slope and terminates in a knoll that we're that we're currently sitting
on. As you approach the house the slope drops off at 30 to 40 degrees on both sides of the
driveway forcing us to arrange the structures from high to low, starting with the garage
and continuing downhill to the living spaces. Having the garage above and away from the living
area means you don't see any cars, the cars don't pollute your sense of peace, connection to nature.
You are then met with two gardens, the roof structures of the buildings below, these roofs
consist of planted trays, first grown in a nursery with a mix of local grasses and succulents.
Gradually over time, whatever seeds or pollens are blowing through the air and landing on this roof,
the most well adapted and tough species survive, it's very Darwinian so it looks
perfectly consistent with what is on the hillsides around us.
As you descend the stairs, you feel a strong sense of compression before you arrive at
the living space. Essentially it's a three-sided glass pavilion, supported by concrete and steel.
We're on a historical cattle ranch that happens to also be a very beautiful and pristine environment,
so we had a lot of building constraints, the main structure had to contain all the living areas,
the dining area,
along with a single bedroom,
and a single bathroom,
These constraints would have been typical of a guest house of that era.
The architecture needed to be inspired by the vernacular architecture, that's found
on a historical cattle ranch, the construction reflects these ideas by referencing the concrete
we see on the train trestles up and down the coast here, and rusting steel on the working
gates of a cattle ranch. The house also had to be completely off-grid, all the primary utilities
are provided and are located on the site. We have a well that provides our water supply,
we have a photovoltaic array and battery system that provides all the power needs for the house,
we have our own septic system that treats all of the septic that's
generated in the project so we truly are disconnected from any shared utilities.
The property at such a high altitude is very exposed to to the sun. We put a lot
of thought into sun shading and climactic controls. these metal
screens were designed to protect this big glass wall from the very low angle sun.
One of the goals for the interior was to add warmth, we chose walnut because
walnut is a very sensual and luxurious wood material and it also has a grain expression
and a deep rich tone that feels at home in this palette of materials.
This project is all about being immersed in this environment, your connection to it and
your relation to the views and it happens in the most extreme way at the terminus of the structure
where this outdoor space juts out over the canyon and you get to feel like you're participating
in a way that is beyond just observing it, you're immersed in it, it's very visceral.