A successful entrepreneur and avid lover of design searched for years for land in Marin County on which to build an extraordinary home. When he found this heavily wooded hilltop property with 270-degree views of Mt. Tamalpais and San Francisco Bay, it was worth the wait.
The site is surrounded by California oaks and old-growth redwoods, offering total privacy. A redwood-lined driveway ascends to the house, where the architecture serves as backdrop and frame to the idyllic setting, a tranquil retreat from urban life.
And from this lofty perch the fog would roll in and never reach him.
The client wanted a house worthy of its setting, melding modernist lines with a rustic Northern California sensibility. The architects composed and stacked a series of boxes, calibrating proportions and optimizing views with precision.
Rich earthy materials in a neutral palette are used throughout. The volumes are clad in terra-cotta clay tile that picks up the color of redwood bark, with Rheinzink fascias and large expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass.
Adjacent volumes house guest rooms, a gym, a spa, and an office, which face the concrete terrace and look out over the pool and spa toward spectacular views. Next to a black-tile lap pool, a square spa hovers eighteen inches above the terrace. With infinity edges on four sides, both pools capture the ever-changing reflections of the sky and Mt. Tamalpais.
The floating master suite occupies the entire second floor and pushes out over the main living volume, commanding gorgeous wraparound views.